THE  NEW  WORLD 
OF  SCIENCE 


Century  flew  TKHorlfc  Series 

W.    F.    WlLLOUGHBY,    GENERAL   EDITOR 

THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 
Edited  by  Robert  M.  Yerkes 

POLITICAL  SYSTEMS  IN  TRAN- 
SITION 

By  Charles  G.  Fenwick 

THE  WORKERS  AT  WAR 

By  Frank  Julian  Warne 


Other  titles  will  be  published  later 


Centutg  Hew  THttorK)  Series 


A  TOOL 

THE  NEW  WORLD 
OF  SCIENCE 

ITS  DEVELOPMENT  DURING  THE  WAR 


EDITED  BY 

ROBERT  M.  YERKES 

Chairman,  Research  Information  Service 
National  Research  Council 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 
THE  CENTURY  CO, 

1920 


Copyright,  1 920,  by 
THE  CENTUBY  Co. 


PREFACE 

In  February,  1919,  the  editor  of  the  Century  New  World 
Series  invited  Dr.  George  Ellery  Hale  to  prepare  for  the  series 
a  volume  on  the  war  and  science.  This  invitation  contained 
the  following  suggestions : 

"  It  is  desirable  to  give,  first,  a  general  statement  of  the  ex- 
tent to  which  the  successful  prosecution  of  the  war  required 
the  mobilization  of  the  resources  of  the  country;  second,  the 
manner  in  which  such  resources  came  to  the  aid  of  the  Govern- 
ment; third,  the  results  gained  in  the  fields  of  research;  and, 
finally,  the  effect  that  the  war  has  had  and  will  have  on  the 
promotion  of  scientific  research  and  the  application  of  science 
to  industry  in  the  future.  An  account,  of  course,  should  be 
given  of  the  organization  and  work  of  the  National  Research 
Council  and  the  other  agencies  created  by  the  Government 
for  the  handling  of  scientific  phases  of  the  war  administration." 

Dr.  Hale,  feeling  that  it  was  impracticable  for  him  to  prepare 
the  entire  volume,  requested  the  writer  to  arrange  with  scientific 
authorities  for  the  preparation  of  various  chapters  and  to  act 
as  editor  of  the  volume.  It  was  originally  planned  to  have 
manuscripts  prepared  by  a  few  individuals,  each  of  whom 
should  be  responsible  for  the  military  contributions  of  a  cer- 
tain science  or  group  of  sciences.  This  idea  could  not  be  put 
into  effect  because  of  specialization  in  scientific  war  service. 
The  final  outcome  was  the  splitting  of  major  sections  of  the 
book  into  chapters  which  deal  with  the  special  aspects  and 
contributions  of  physics,  chemistry,  geology,  and  other 
sciences. 

The  volume  is  not  a  complete  account  of  the  relations  of 
science  in  America  to  military  activities;  instead  it  presents 
examples  oj  the  important  contributions  of  several  of  the 


431718 


vi  PREFACE 

natural  sciences  and  of  their  related  technologies.  Complete- 
ness of  treatment  within  the  scope  of  such  a  volume  as  was 
proposed  was  impracticable  because  of  the  magnitude  and 
diversity  of  scientific  service.  It  is  appropriate  to  state  also 
that  because  of  the  impracticability  of  mentioning  more  than  a 
small  percentage  of  those  who  deserve  recognition,  no  attempt 
has  been  made  by  most  contributors  to  indicate  the  credit  and 
responsibility  of  individuals. 

It  has  been  the  primary,  if  not  the  single,  purpose  of  the 
several  writers  to  offer  to  the  lay  reader  an  untechnical  account 
of  the  nature  of  certain  methods  and  their  practical  relations 
to  military  problems.  The  editor,  and  doubtless  every  con- 
tributor, has  held  clearly  in  mind  the  importance  of  acquaint- 
ing the  public  with  scientific  progress  and  with  typical  ex- 
amples of  the  dependence  of  industrial  advances  upon  the  de- 
velopment of  science. 

THE  EDITOR. 


INTRODUCTION 
GEORGE  ELLERY  HALE 

One  of  the  most  striking  results  of  the  war  is  the  emphasis 
it  has  laid  on  the  national  importance  of  science  and  research/ 
The  sharp  spur  of  necessity,  felt  by  the  Allies  soon  after  the 
opening  of  hostilities,  drove  them  to  the  instant  utilization  of 
scientific  research  to  make  good  the  losses  caused  by  the  re- 
striction of  imports.  Optical  glass  for  gun-sights,  range- 
finders  and  periscopes ;  chemicals  needed  for  high  explosives ; 
and  scores  of  other  products  developed  in  Germany  after  long 
years  of  investigation,  were  suddenly  rendered  inaccessible. 
Some  of  these  could  be  manufactured  without  much  delay; 
but  in  many  cases  the  necessary  process  was  unknown,  and 
could  only  be  discovered  by  research.  Investigators  from  the 
universities,  the  industries  and  the  technical  schools  were  called 
upon  for  aid,  and  manufacture  was  soon  rendered  possible. 

But  the  aid  thus  given  was  by  no  means  restricted  to  the 
duplication  of  known  devices.  It  shortly  became  clear  that 
many  of  the  problems  of  war  lie  in  the  domain  of  the  physicist, 
the  chemist,  the  meteorologist,  no  less  than  in  that  of  the  mili- 
tary expert.  The  physicist  was  quick  to  recognize  that  enemy 
guns,  though  completely  hidden  from  view  by  intervening 
ground,  might  be  accurately  located  by  sound,  and  apparatus 
for  this  purpose  was  rapidly  developed  and  employed  with 
great  success  along  the  western  front.  The  chemist,  when 
retaliation  was  forced  by  the  German  introduction  of  poisonous 
gases,  developed  new  and  powerful  vapors  that  led  the  origin- 
ators of  this  system  of  warfare  to  regret  the  step  they  had 
taken.  The  meteorologist,  from  his  observation  posts  along 
the  battle  line,  supplied  the  data  needed  by  the  gunner,  the 
sound-ranger,  the  leader  of  gas  attacks,  and  the  airman.  The 
astronomer  studied  the  trajectories  of  projectiles,  improved  the 

vii 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

methods  of  navigating  airplanes,  and  learned  how  to  increase 
the  range  of  guns  and  the  accuracy  of  bomb-dropping.  The 
bacteriologist  sought  out  the  hidden  mechanism  of  trench  fever, 
and  the  means  of  lessening  its  ravages.  And  so  we  might  go 
on,  drawing  hundreds  of  typical  illustrations  from  every  branch 
of  science. 

The  bearing  of  such  varied  and  productive  activities  goes 
far  beyond  the  immediate  issues  of  war,  and  reaches  down  to 
the  very  foundations  of  national  welfare.  The  problems  of 
peace  are  inextricably  entangled  with  those  of  war,  and  if 
scientific  methods  and  the  aid  of  scientific  research  were 
needed  in  overcoming  the  menace  of  the  enemy  they  will  be  no 
less  urgently  needed  during  the  turmoil  of  reconstruction  and 
the  future  competitions  of  peace. 

Remember  the  case  of  the  aniline  dyes,  the  first  of  which, 
mauve,  was  discovered  by  Sir  William  Perkin  in  1856.  Here, 
as  in  so  many  other  instances,  a  great  achievement  of  British 
initiative  met  with  no  recognition  from  the  home  government, 
and  the  fruits  of  Perkin's  discovery  were  gathered  abroad. 
Aniline,  from  which  mauve  is  derived,  is  one  of  the  products 
of  coal-tar,  formerly  regarded  as  useless  waste.  Thousands 
of  chemists,  thoroughly  infused  with  the  spirit  of  research  in 
the  German  universities,  and  supported  by  great  corporations, 
enjoying  the  powerful  encouragement  of  the  Government,  have 
built  upon  this  foundation  the  great  dye  industry  of  Germany. 
The  basic  processes  involved  in  the  preparation  of  the  dyes 
are  precisely  those  required  for  the  manufacture  of  tri-nitro- 
toluol  and  other  high  explosives.  Thus  the  German  govern- 
ment, bent  on  its  preparations  for  war,  quite  naturally  developed 
an  industry  that  brought  great  commercial  prosperity  and  at 
the  same  time  provided  the  factories,  equipment,  and  trained 
chemists  necessary  to  produce  thousands  of  tons  of  explosives. 

Or  recall  the  fixation  of  nitrogen.  Long  before  the  war  Ger- 
many systematically  exploited  the  cheap  water-power  of  Nor- 
way for  the  manufacture  of  nitrates,  needed  alike  for  powder 
and  for  fertilization  of  German  soil,  where  the  output  of 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

wheat  was  thus  raised  from  15  bushels  to  the  acre,  the  average 
in  the  United  States,  to  3;  bushel-;  *o  the  acre.  The  Chilean 
nitrate  beds  were  far  away,  and  an  interruption  of  overseas 
traffic  would  inevitably  accompany  the  outbreak  of  hostilities. 
Thus  German  chemists  applied,  not  merely  the  electric  arc 
process  of  nitrogen  fixation  rendered  commercially  possible 
by  the  waterfalls  of  Norway,  but  other  processes  now  effec- 
tively utilized  on  an  immense  scale  within  Germany  itself. 
The  results,  rendered  plainly  visible  during  the  war  by  the 
enormous  quantities  of  ammunition  expended  along  the  west- 
ern front,  will  be  no  less  important  in  the  economic  restoration 
of  the  country  through  intensive  agriculture. 

Thus  the  very  agencies  of  war  will  become  powerful  factors 
in  the  competitions  of  peace,  and  the  research  methods  from 
which  they  sprang  will  play  a  far  larger  part  in  the  world  than 
ever  before. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  the  statesmen  of  the  Allies  were 
but  little  concerned  with  the  interests  of  research.  Necessity, 
as  we  have  seen,  soon  opend  their  eyes,  and  the  results  so 
rapidly  obtained  convinced  them  that  a  radical  change  of  policy 
was  essential.  Perceiving  the  enormous  advantages  derived 
by  Germany  from  the  utilization  of  science,  and  with  wise  an- 
ticipation of  the  needs  of  the  future,  they  took  steps  to  remedy 
the  earlier  neglect  of  science  which  the  war  had  rendered  so 
conspicuous.  An  Advisory  Council  of  Scientific  and  In- 
dustrial Research  was  set  up  by  the  British  Government  in 
1915,  and  one  million  pounds  was  appropriated  for  the  pro- 
motion of  research  in  science  and  the  arts.  In  the  face  of 
rapidly  rising  wages  and  mounting  costs  of  raw  materials,  it 
was  seen  that  the  most  direct  of  all  possible  attacks  upon  the 
high  cost  of  living  might  be  made  through  the  agency  of  re- 
search. The  cost  of  electric  illumination,  for  example,  will  be 
still  higher  than  it  is  to-day  unless  existing  methods  of  gen- 
erating and  using  the  current  can  be  improved.  Thus  the  re- 
cent production  of  an  incandescent  lamp,  which  yields  equal 
light  with  a  fraction  of  the  current,  is  a  most  important  step  in 


x  INTRODUCTION 

the  right  direction.  In  similar  ways  costs  can  be  reduced  and 
efficiency  increased  in  all  directions  through  the  intelligent  use 
of  scientific  research. 

The  recognition  of  this  fact  throughout  the  British  Empire 
has  resulted  in  a  world-wide  movement  of  great  significance. 
Advisory  Councils  for  Scientific  and  Industrial  Research,  hav- 
ing large  government  appropriations  at  their  disposal,  have 
been  established  by  Australia,  Canada,  South  Africa,  and  New 
Zealand,  and  provision  is  being  made  for  large  research  labora- 
tories to  render  possible  investigations  in  all  branches  of  sci- 
ence, and  in  engineering,  medicine,  and  agriculture.  It  is  uni- 
versally recognized  that  the  underlying  problems  of  science, 
from  the  solution  of  which  all  great  industrial  advances  spring, 
must  be  attacked  no  less  vigorously  than  the  more  obvious 
practical  questions.  Therefore  this  movement,  the  most  sig- 
nificant and  far-reaching  in  the  history  of  science,  recognizes 
no  distinction  between  the  problems  of  science  and  those  of  the 
arts,  but  seeks  to  provide  broadly  and  liberally  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  knowledge  and  its  effective  application  for  the 
public  welfare. 

The  fundamental  importance  of  science  has  long  been  rec- 
ognized by  the  ablest  leaders  of  industry  in  the  United  States. 
The  telephone  was  born  in  a  research  laboratory,  and  as  soon 
as  the  American  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Company  was 
formed,  this  laboratory  was  made  into  a  department  of  its 
activities.  Under  the  far-seeing  guidance  of  Theodore  N. 
Vail  it  has  now  become  the  Department  of  Development  and 
Research  under  Vice-President  John  J.  Carty,  employing  thir- 
teen hundred  scientists  and  engineers  who  devote  their  time 
exclusively  to  research  and  development  in  the  telephone  art. 
Two  of  the  outstanding  results  of  this  laboratory  are  trans- 
continental telephony  by  wire  and  wireless  telephony  between 
airplane  and  earth  and  between  earth  stations  as  widely 
separated  as  Arlington  and  Hawaii.  The  General  Electric 
Company,  which  also  grew  out  of  research,  maintains  a  great 
research  laboratory,  costing  nearly  a  million  dollars  per  year, 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

under  the  energetic  and  effective  leadership  of  W.  R.  Whitney. 
If  the  scores  of  devices  and  improvements  that  have  flowed 
from  this  laboratory  were  restricted  merely  to  the  Mazda 
lamp,  this  country  would  have  gained  greatly  by  its  establish- 
ment. In  another  field  George  Eastman,  recognizing  that 
photographic  materials  and  methods  are  susceptible  to  great 
improvement,  founded  in  '1912  the  Research  Laboratory  of  the 
Eastman  Kodak  Company,  where  C.  E.  K.  Mees  and  his  as- 
sociates are  accomplishing  many  important  advances.  One 
might  go  on  to  mention  many  other  successful  laboratories  of 
industrial  research  in  this  country,  including  those  of  Thomas 
A.  Edison,  the  Westinghouse  Electric  and  Manufacturing 
Company,  the  Goodyear  Tire  and  Rubber  Company,  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation,  the  General  Chemical  Company,  the 
General  Bakelite  Company,  and  others  of  equal  importance. 
A  notable  case  is  the  research  laboratory  of  the  du  Pont  de 
Nemours  Company,  which  began  with  six  chemists  in  1902, 
and  employed  three  hundred  chemists  in  1918,  when  its  an- 
nual expenditure  had  reached  three  million  dollars. 

While  the  prime  objects  of  these  laboratories  is  the  direct 
solution  of  problems  arising  in  the  industries,  much  research 
for  the  advancement  of  science  is  done  in  them,  and  their  di- 
recting heads  are  constantly  emphasizing  the  importance  of 
fundamental  science  and  its  development.  Thus  W.  R.  Whit- 
ney has  said : 

"  Necessity  is  not  the  mother  of  invention ;  knowledge  and  ex- 
periment are  its  parents.  This  is  clearly  seen  in  the  case  of  many 
industrial  discoveries ;  high-speed  cutting  tools  were  not  a  necessity 
which  preceded,  but  an  application  which  followed  the  discovery 
of  the  properties  of  tungsten-chromium-iron  alloys;  so,  too,  the 
use  of  titanium  in  arc  lamps  and  of  vanadium  in  steel  were  sequels 
to  the  industrial  preparation  of  these  metals,  and  not  discoveries 
made  by  sheer  force  of  necessity." 

One  of  the  best  illustrations  of  the  practical  importance  of 
researches  made  solely  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  knowledge 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

is  afforded  by  the  development  of  wireless  telegraphy.  The 
now  familiar  electric  waves,  transmitted  by  the  ether  with  the 
velocity  of  light,  were  foreshadowed  by  Faraday  and  Henry 
and  definitely  made  known  by  the  mathematical  investigations 
of  Maxwell  about  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Nearly  forty  years  later  Hertz,  deliberately  following  Max- 
well's lead,  produced  and  detected  these  waves  experimentally. 
Crookes  foresaw  their  possible  utilization  for  wireless  teleg- 
raphy, which  was  accomplished  over  short  distances  by  Lodge 
in  1894,  and  applied  on  a  commercial  scale  by  Marconi  in  1896. 
The  wireless  telephone  was  a  later  development  of  the 
pioneer  work  of  Maxwell  and  Hertz,  reenforced  by  much  ad- 
ditional physical  research  on  electric  discharges  in  vacuum 
tubes  and  other  laboratory  phenomena.  Similarly  the  inven- 
tion of  the  telephone  goes  back  to  the  principles  of  magnetic- 
electric  induction  discovered  by  Faraday;  the  anti-toxin  treat- 
ment of  disease  grew  out  of  Pasteur's  investigations  of  bac- 
teria, which  resulted  in  their  turn  from  his  studies  of  the  na- 
ture of  certain  crystals,  made  for  the  sole  purpose  of  advancing 
knowledge;  the  airplane  had  its  origin  in  Langley's  researches 
on  the  resistance  of  the  air  to  moving  bodies.  Analyze  any  in- 
vention, and  it  will  be  found  that  it  was  rendered  possible  by 
the  work  of  men  concerned  only  with  the  advancement  of  sci- 
ence. How  clearly  this  is  appreciated  by  the  chief  leaders 
of  industry  is  best  expressed  in  the  words  of  Carty,  from  his 
presidential  address  to  the  American  Institute  of  Electrical 
Engineers  in  1916. 

"  It  was  Michael  Faraday,  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  workers 
in  pure  science,  who  in  the  last  century  discovered  the  principle 
of  the  dynamo  electric  machine.  Without  a  knowledge  of  this 
principle  discovered  by  Faraday  the  whole  art  of  electrical  en- 
gineering as  we  know  it  today  could  not  exist  and  civilization 
would  have  been  deprived  of  those  inestimable  benefits  which  have 
resulted  from  the  work  of  the  members  of  this  Institute. 

"  Not  only  Faraday  in  England,  but  Joseph  Henry  in  our  own 
country  and  scores  of  other  workers  in  pure  science  have  laid  the 


,  INTRODUCTION  xiii 

foundations  upon  which  the  electrical  engineer  has  reared  such  a 
magnificent  structure. 

"  What  is  true  of  the  electrical  art  is  also  true  of  all  the  other 
arts  and  applied  sciences.  They  are  all  based  upon  fundamental 
discoveries  made  by  workers  in  pure  science,  who  were  seeking 
only  to  discover  the  laws  of  nature  and  extend  the  realm  of 
human  knowledge. 

"  By  every  means  in  our  power,  therefore,  let  us  show  our  ap- 
preciation of  pure  science  and  let  us  forward  the  work  of  the  pure 
scientists,  for  they  are  the  advance  guard  of  civilization.  They 
point  the  way  which  we  must  follow.  Let  us  arouse  the  people  of 
our  country  to  the  wonderful  possibilities  of  scientific  discovery 
and  to  the  responsibility  to  support  it  which  rests  upon  them  and  I 
am  sure  that  they  will  respond  generously  and  effectively." 

In  each  of  the  illustrations  we  have  cited,  and  in  many 
others  like  them,  three  elements,  fundamentally  important 
to  the  welfare  of  the  United  States,  should  be  recognized.  It 
is  clear  that  a  nation  anxious  to  reduce  the  cost  of  living  and 
unwilling  to  give  place  in  the  industrial  world  to  better  in- 
formed rivals  must  adopt  every  feasible  means  of  promoting 
research  in  the  industries.  It  is  equally  clear  that  so  long  as 
the  security  of  the  world  is  menaced  by  unscrupulous  military 
powers,  research  methods  must  be  effectively  utilized  in  per- 
fecting the  means  of  national  defense.  But  more  fundamental 
still  is  the  prime  necessity,  clearly  appreciated  and  strongly 
emphasized  by  the  far-sighted  leaders  of  American  industry, 
of  promoting  research  in  all  branches  of  science,  without 
thought  of  any  industrial  application,  for  the  sake  of  advancing 
knowledge.  As  Sir  Joseph  Thomson  has  recently  said,  it  ib 
only  in  this  way  that  the  greatest  advances  are  made.  The 
pioneers  of  industrial  research  are  those  who  seize  and  apply 
the  discoveries  of  men  of  science,  by  whom  new  territories  are 
opened  and  explored.  Without  the  knowledge  derived  from 
such  explorations,  the  investigator  bent  upon  immediate  in- 
dustrial advantage  could  make  little  progress. 

Our  place  in  the  industrial  world,  the  advance  of  our  com- 
merce, the  health  of  our  people,  the  output  of  our  farms,  the 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

conditions  under  which  the  great  majority  of  our  population 
must  labor,  and  the  security  of  the  nation  will  thus  depend,  in 
large  and  increasing  measure,  on  the  attention  we  devote  to  the 
promotion  of  scientific  and  industrial  research.  The  purpose 
of  this  book  is  therefore  to  describe  the  part  played  by  science 
in  the  war  with  special  reference  to  the  future  development  and 
utilization  of  research  on  a  scale  commensurate  with  the  needs 
of  the  United  States. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

PREFACE    v 

By  the  editor 

INTRODUCTION , vii 

By  George  Ellery  Hale 

I    SCIENCE  AND  WAR  .     ;;   V  V:  V  V '  v'   -^  '  •  *  •      3 
By  George  Ellery  Hale 

II    WAR  SERVICES  OF  THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL    13 
By  George  Ellery  Hale 

THE  ROLE  OF  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE  IN 
THE  WAR 

III  CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE 33 

By  Robert  A.  Millikan 

IV  SOME  SCIENTIFIC  ASPECTS  OF  THE  METEOROLOGICAL 

WORK  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  ARMY 49 

By  Robert  A.  Millikan 

V    SOUND-RANGING  IN  THE  AMERICAN  EXPEDITIONARY 

FORCES *v  ; v 63 

By  Augustus  Trowbridge 

VI    WAR-TIME  PHOTOGRAPHY  .     .  >  *    ,#• 89 

By  Herbert  E.  Ives 

VII    OPTICAL  GLASS  FOR  WAR  NEEDS 103 

By  Harrison  E.  Howe 

THE  ROLE  OF  CHEMISTRY  IN  THE  WAR 

VIII    THE  SUPPLY  OF  NITROGEN  PRODUCTS  FOR  THE  MANU- 
FACTURE OF  EXPLOSIVES 123 

By  Arthur  A,  Noyes 

XV 


xvi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

IX    THE  PRODUCTION  OF  EXPLOSIVES 134 

By  Charles  E.  Mimroe 

X    THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE 148 

By  Clarence  /.  West 

THE  ROLE  OF  THE  EARTH  SCIENCES  IN 
THE  WAR 

XI    CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOGRAPHY     .......   177 

By  Douglas  W .  Johnson 

XII     CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY    ...  ....   196 

By  Douglas  W.  Johnson 

THE  ROLE  OF  ENGINEERING  IN  THE  WAR 

XIII  ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  CONTRIBUTED  DURING  THE 

WAR .'    .'    ^     .     .  221 

By  A.  E.  Kennelly 

XIV  CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  METALLURGY  TO  VICTORY    .  ^  '.    ' .  247 

By  Henry  M.  Howe 

THE  ROLE  OF  BIOLOGY  AND  MEDICINE  IN 
THE  WAR 

XV    THE  FOOD  PROBLEM 265 

By  Vernon  Kellogg 

XVI    THE  WAR  SERVICE  OF  THE  MEDICAL  PROFESSION    .     .  277 
By  Frederick  F.  Russell 

XVII     SOME  DISEASES  PREVALENT  IN  THE  ARMY  ....  291 
By  Frederick  F.  Russell 

XVIII    ADVANCES  IN  SURGERY  DURING  THE  WAR   .     .     .     .  311 
By  John  W.  Hanner 

XIX    PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE  AND  THE  WAR        .     .     .     .  328 
By  Victor  C.  Vaughan 


CONTENTS  xvii 

THE  ROLE  OF  PSYCHOLOGY  IN  THE  WAR 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XX     How  PSYCHOLOGY  HAPPENED  INTO  THE  WAR   .     .     .  351 

By  Robert  M.  Yerkes 

XXI    WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED  TO  THE  WAR     .     .  364 
By  Robert  M.  Yerkes 

RELATIONS  OF  THE  WAR  TO  PROGRESS  IN 
SCIENCE 

XXII    THE  POSSIBILITIES  OF  COOPERATION  IN  RESEARCH     .  393 
By  George  Ellery  Hale 

XXIII  THE  INTERNATIONAL  ORGANIZATION  OF  RESEARCH    .  405 

By  George  Ellery  Hale 

XXIV  THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL 

By  James  R.  Angell 

INDEX  .     .    -.\ 439 


LIST  OF  PLATES 

FIGUBE 

ii.     The  Dodge  instrument  for  training  gun-pointers  Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

1.  Uniform  rate  of   ascent  of  pilot  balloon  up   to   11,000 

meters    .     .    /.     .     ....     .     .     .     .     »  •     5° 

2.  Pilot  balloon  ascent  showing  isolated  convection  current     51 

3.  Uniform   rate   of   ascent  of   pilot  balloon   up  to  20,000 

meters  where  balloon  sprung  a  leak.          .      ....     54 

4.  Convection  currents  at  low  altitudes     .      ...     .      .     55 

1.  Example    of    airplane    photograph.     Trenches,    concrete 

dug-outs    and   machine    gun    emplacements    along    the 
Yser  River  N  . .     .     .     .     .     94 

2.  The  method  of  building  up  a  mosaic  map  from  a  large 

number  of  overlapping  serial  photographs     ...      -94 

3.  Color  filters  in  aerial  photography     .      .      ...    V     .     95 

2.  Portable  army  telephone  exchange   .      .     .     .  -    .     .      .   228 

3.  Portable  4-line  switchboard .      .      .   228 

4.  Portable  outpost  switchboard 229 

5.  Signalers  in  gas  masks  talking  with  observer  in  a  captive 

balloon    ........    t.     .     \     ....  229 

6.  Brigadier-General  Edgar  G.  Russel,  the  Chief  Signal  Of- 

ficer of  the  A.  E.  F .'    *.....  236 

7.  Major-General  Squier,  Chief  Signal  Officer,  U.  S.  Army  236 

8.  Types  of  vacuum  tube  .      .      .     ......     .     .     .     .  237 

9.  Airplane  radiogenerator 237 

10.     Interior  parts  of  radiogenerator  ........  237 

1.  A  trade  test  in  the  United  States  Army     .      .     .     .      .   354 

2.  An  individual  psychological   examination  in  the  United 

States  Army 355 

3.  Testing  the  mechanical  skill  of  soldiers  by  the  Stenquist 

method V    .     > 358 

4.  Examination  Alpha  .     :...    .      ,     .      .      .      .      .      .      .      .   359 

Group  of  soldiers  at  Camp  Lee,  Virginia,  taking  the  army 

psychological  examination  for  literates.     This  was  be- 
fore benches  were  provided  in  the  examining  room ! 

Soldiers  scoring  psychological  examination  papers 

xix 


THE 
NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


THE 
NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


i 

SCIENCE  AND  WAR1 
GEORGE  ELLERY  HALE 

SCIENCE  UNDER  NAPOLEON 

THIS  is  by  no  means  the  first  war  in  which  men  of  science 
have  been  called  from  their  customary  researches  to  solve 
military  problems.  For  early  examples  we  might  go  back  to 
the  Greeks,  and  cite  illustrations  from  the  conquests  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great  or  the  reputed  exploits  of  Archimedes  at  the 
siege  of  Syracuse.  But  a  more  striking  and  illuminating  ex- 
ample, of  great  significance  because  of  the  emphasis  laid  on  the 
national  importance  of  science  and  research  by  the  leaders  of 
France,  may  be  taken  from  the  history  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion and  the  life  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte. 

At  the  period  of  the  French  Revolution  the  Paris  Academy 
of  Sciences  occupied  an  unrivalled  position  in  Europe.  Com- 
posed of  the  leaders  of  science  in  every  field,  it  was  therefore 
prepared  to  deal  with  the  heavy  problems  which  grow  out  of 
a  great  emergency.  When  the  Convention  decided  to  raise  a 
large  army  to  resist  invasion  and  stamp  out  civil  war,  equip- 

1  For  the  material  used  in  the  first  half  of  this  Chapter  the  writer  is 
chiefly  indebted  to  Maindron's  L'Academie  des  Sciences  and  to  the 
Presidential  address  of  M.  Guignard  at  the  last  annual  meeting  of  the 
Academy  (Comptes  Rendus,  December  22,  1919). 

3 


NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

ment  of  all  kinds  was  lacking.  Steel,  nitrates  and  many  neces- 
sary raw  materials  were  cut  off  by  the  blockade,  and  the  nation 
was  thrown  upon  its  own  resources. 

In  this  critical  situation  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety  ap- 
pealed to  the  members  of  the  Academy  and  their  assistants.  A 
chateau  at  Meudon  was  placed  at  their  disposal,  together  with 
the  adjoining  park  for  experimental  purposes.  Aided  by  Van- 
dermonde  and  Berthollet,  Monge  discovered  the  process  of 
manufacturing  steel  and  making  guns.  Fourcroy  succeeded  in 
separating  copper  from  bell  metal.  Vandermonde  was  placed 
in  charge  of  the  manufacture  of  rifles,  swords,  and  bayonets. 
Arms  were  soon  available,  but  powder  was  so  scarce  that 
Hoche,  in  command  of  the  army  of  the  Sambre  and  Meuse, 
was  compelled  to  retreat  for  lack  of  sufficient  supply.  But  the 
chemists  were  equal  to  the  emergency,  and  nitrates  were  pro- 
duced from  many  sources,  the  former  slow  methods  of  manu- 
facturing explosives  were  replaced  by  new  ones  and  in  a  short 
time  a  single  factory  was  turning  out  powder  at  the  then  ex- 
traordinary rate  of  30,000  pounds  per  day.  Potash,  formerly 
imported  from  Spain,  was  also  cut  off,  but  a  supply  was  ob- 
tained from  the  ashes  of  plants.  New  methods  were  devised 
for  the  rapid  tanning  of  leather,  the  manufacture  of  paper,  and 
scores  of  other  products.  Even  more  striking  to  the  popular 
imagination  was  the  development  of  the  "  telegraph  "  or  long 
distance  signaling  device  of  the  Abbe  Claude  Chappe  and  tht 
war  balloon  of  Guyton  de  Morveau.  If  to  the  unthinking  all 
these  results  of  science  seemed  to  be  creations  of  the  moment, 
those  who  paused  to  reflect  saw  their  origin  in  the  decades  of 
research  that  preceded  the  Revolution  and  reached  their  height 
in  Lavoisier,  who  fell  a  victim  to  the  guillotine. 

In  the  events  thus  briefly  sketched  we  have  an  exact  parallel 
to  the  experiences  of  the  present  war,  which  once  more  forced 
national  leaders  when  confronted  by  critical  problems,  to  seek 
at  the  last  moment  the  aid  of  science.  A  much  more  enlight- 
ened appreciation  of  the  value  of  science  to  the  state  was  shown 
by  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  whose  relations  with  the  Paris  Acad- 


SCIENCE  UNDER  NAPOLEON  5 

emy  of  Sciences  are  of  special  interest  at  a  time  when  an  equal 
grasp  by  our  own  Government  of  the  possibilities  of  research, 
embodied  in  concrete  form  and  applied  to  national  advance- 
ment, would  bring  a  great  return. 

The  brilliant  strategy  displayed  in  his  Italian  campaign, 
and  the  attitude  which  he  assumed  toward  the  men  of  science 
of  the  conquered  territory,  led  to  Napoleon's  election  as  a  mem- 
ber of  the  National  Institute  of  France  on  December  25,  1797. 
In  his  letter  of  acceptance  he  remarks: 

.  .  .  "  The  truest  conquests,  the  only  ones  that  give  rise  to 
no  regrets,  are  those  gained  over  ignorance. 

"  The  most  honorable  as  well  as  the  most  useful  activity  of 
nations  is  to  contribute  to  the  advancement  of  human  knowl- 
edge. 

"  The  real  strength  of  the  French  Republic  should  henceforth 
lie  in  its  determination  to  possess  every  new  idea,  without  a 
single  exception." 

Entering  at  once  upon  his  duties,  Napoleon  took  part  with 
Borda  and  Coulomb  the  physicists,  Laplace  the  astronomer, 
and  other  members  in  the  examination  of  devices,  some  of  them 
of  a  military  nature,  submitted  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Institute.  But  his  belief  in  the  utilization  by  the  state  of  the 
services  of  men  of  science  was  most  strikingly  demonstrated  in 
the  organization  of  his  expedition  to  Egypt.  In  addition  to 
the  military  and  naval  contingents,  he  took  with  him  a  scien- 
tific commission,  comprising  many  of  the  most  distinguished 
scholars  of  France.  The  long  list  of  members  includes 
mathematicians,  physicists,  astronomers,  chemists,  engineers, 
geologists  and  mineralogists,  botanists,  zoologists,  surgeons, 
pharmacists,  political  economists,  archeologists,  architects, 
painters,  and  many  others.  Less  than  a  month  after  his  ar- 
rival in  Cairo,  Napoleon  established  the  Institute  of  Egypt, 
modeled  after  the  Institute  of  France,  with  which  it  was  in 
close  correspondence.  As  Vice-President  of  the  Institute  of 
Egypt,  and  in  constant  attendance  at  its  meetings,  Napoleon 
called  for  the  appointment  of  committee  after  committee,  to 


6  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

report  on  the  best  means  of  baking  bread  for  the  army,  the 
discovery  of  a  substitute  for  hops  needed  in  the  manufacture 
of  beer,  the  best  method  of  purifying  the  water  of  the  Nile,  the 
relative  efficiency  of  wind-mills  and  water-mills,  the  possibility 
of  manufacturing  powder  in  Egypt.  By  no  means  forgetful 
of  the  wider  interests  of  science  and  the  arts,  Napoleon  secured 
the  appointment  of  a  committee  to  report  on  the  feasibility  of 
establishing  an  astronomical  observatory  in  Egypt,  and 
permanently  preserved,  in  the  magnificent  volumes  of  the 
Description  de  I'Egypt,  the  exhaustive  studies  of  the  temples 
and  antiquities  made  by  his  architects  and  archeologists.  It 
is  interesting  to  remember  that  it  was  Napoleon  who  announced 
to  the  National  Institute,  a  few  days  after  his  return  to  Paris, 
that  he  had  given  orders  to  bring  to  France  the  celebrated 
Rosetta  Stone,  with  its  tri-lingual  inscription,  which  enabled 
Champollion  some  years  later  to  decipher  the  Egyptian  hiero- 
glyphs. Thus  the  title  "  Le  membre  de  ITnstitut,  General  en 
chef,"  invariably  used  by  Napoleon  throughout  his  Egyptian 
campaign,  was  fairly  descriptive  of  his  double  service.  Indeed, 
when  we  recall  the  early  collapse  of  that  ill-fated  expedition, 
we  cannot  fail  to  recognize  that  his  contribution  to  science 
and  the  arts  as  Member  of  the  Institute  was  far  more  enduring 
than  his  initial  military  success  as  Commander  in  Chief  at  the 
Battle  of  the  Pyramids. 

During  the  triumphs  of  his  subsequent  career  Napoleon  gave 
strong  support  to  the  National  Institute  of  France,  which  then 
attained  a  brilliancy  of  success  and  achievement  without  a 
parallel  in  the  history  of  science.  In  1800,  as  First  Consul, 
Napoleon  presided  over  the  meetings  of  its  Class  of  Physical 
and  Mathematical  Sciences  (corresponding  to  the  present 
Academy  of  Sciences),  and  after  listening  to  an  address  by 
Volta  on  his  electrical  researches,  proposed  that  a  medal  be 
awarded  him  for  his  discoveries,  which  was  done  without  de- 
lay. Soon  afterwards,  deeply  impressed  by  the  great  possi- 
bilities which  he  keenly  perceived  to  lie  in  the  future  develop- 
ment of  similar  researches,  Napoleon  established  a  medal 


SCIENCE  UNDER  NAPOLEON  7 

valued  at  three  thousand  francs  to  be  awarded  to  the  author  of 
the  best  experiment  made  each  year  in  the  field  of  galvanic 
electricity.  Moreover,  "  with  the  special  object  of  encourag- 
ing and  fixing  the  attention  of  physicists  on  that  branch  of 
physics  which,  in  my  opinion,  is  the  pathway  to  great  discov- 
eries," he  announced  his  intention  to  present  the  sum  of  sixty 
thousand  francs  "  to  any  one  whose  experiments  or  discoveries, 
in  the  judgment  of  the  First  Class  of  the  Institute,  shall  ac- 
complish an  advance  in  electricity  or  galvanism  comparable  to 
that  made  by  Franklin  and  Volta." 

Subsequently,  both  as  First  Consul  and  as  Emperor,  Na- 
poleon continued  to  take  personal  part  in  the  work  of  the  In- 
stitute, which  he  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  important  na- 
tional agencies  for  the  advancement  of  France.  He  provided 
for  its  reorganization  with  enlarged  scope  and  greater  powers 
(law  of  January  23,  1803)  and  established  it, -at  the  expense 
of  the  state,  in  the  Palais  des  Quatre-Nations  (now  Palais  de 
1'Institut).  He  presented  to  the  Institute  a  large  number  of 
statues  of  eminent  men  of  science  and  letters  formerly  in  the 
Louvre,  and  subsequently  added  a  statue  of  d'Alembert  "  as 
a  mark  of  his  esteem  for  the  Institute  and  of  his  constant  wish 
to  reward  and  encourage  the  labors  of  this  company,  which 
contributes  so  largely  to  the  prosperity  and  welfare  of  his 
people."  He  called  upon  the  Institute  to  report  every  five 
years  on  the  progress  of  science,  the  arts  and  letters  in  France. 
He  founded  a  series  of  thirty-five  grand  prizes,  nineteen  of  ten 
thousand  francs  each,  sixteen  of  five  thousand  francs  each,  to 
be  allotted  by  the  Institute  and  awarded  every  ten  years  by 
the  Emperor  in  person  for  researches  and  inventions  in  the 
various  branches  of  science  and  the  arts.  In  short,  up  to  the 
time  of  his  abdication  Napoleon  did  everything  in  his  power 
to  advance  the  interests  of  the  Institute  and  to  render  it  of  the 
greatest  service  to  the  nation.  He  was  amply  rewarded  by  the 
successes  of  its  members,  best  illustrated  by  the  accomplish- 
ments of  such  men  as  Laplace,  Lagrange,  Berthollet,  Cuvier, 
Coulomb,  Biot,  Delambre,  Jussieu,  and  Fourier,  who,  with 


8  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

others  of  like  distinction,  constituted  the  most  brilliant  com- 
pany of  investigators  ever  assembled. 

We  have  permitted  this  brief  account  of  science  in  France 
during  the  period  of  Napoleon  to  develop  beyond  the  immediate 
questions  of  war  because  of  the  value  of  the  example  from  our 
present  point  of  view.  In  fact,  as  shown  in  the  introductory 
chapter,  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  sharply  between  science 
as  needed  for  national  defense  and  science  as  the  basis  of  in- 
dustrial progress.  It  will  be  fortunate  indeed  if  the  heavy 
blows  to  civilization  directly  chargeable  to  the  Central  Powers 
can  be  offset  in  some  degree  by  the  new  appreciation  of  science, 
and  advantage  should  be  taken  of  every  feasible  method  of 
stimulating  research  that  may  be  suggested  by  past  experience. 

SCIENCE   IN    THE    CIVIL   WAR 

Let  us  now  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  early  development  of 
science  in  the  United  States,  and  observe  the  part  it  played  in 
the  Civil  War.  De  Tocqueville,  who  visited  this  country  in 
1831,  has  preserved  his  impressions  in  his  well-known  work  on 
"  Democracy  in  America."  In  a  chapter  entitled  "  How  the 
example  of  the  Americans  fails  to  prove  that  a  democratic 
people  cannot  possess  aptitude  and  taste  for  science,  literature 
and  art,"  he  wrote  as  follows :  '*  It  must  be  admitted  that 
among  the  civilized  peoples  of  our  time  there  are  few  in  which 
the  higher  sciences  have  made  less  progress  than  in  the  United 
States."  This  he  attributed  to  our  Puritan  origin,  our  pur- 
suit of  the  wealth  which  is  so  easily  acquired  in  a  new  country, 
and  our  dependence  upon  England  for  intellectual  things.  "  I 
consider  the  people  of  the  United  States  as  that  portion  of  the 
English  people  which  is  charged  with  the  exploitation  of  the 
forests  of  the  new  world,  while  the  rest  of  the  nation,  enjoying 
more  leisure  and  less  preoccupied  with  the  material  needs  of 
life,  may  devote  itself  to  thought  and  to  the  development  of 
the  human  mind  in  every  field." 

But  although  he  regarded  the  United  States  as  exceptional, 
he  fancied  that  he  recognized  in  all  democracies  conditions  of 


SCIENCE  UNDER  NAPOLEON  9 

disturbance  and  unrest  which  leave  little  opportunity  for  the 
quiet  and  repose  essential  to  the  cultivation  of  science.  These 
he  carefully  distinguished,  however,  from  great  upheavals  of 
the  body  politic.  "  When  a  violent  revolution  occurs  among 
a  highly  civilized  people,  it  cannot  fail  to  give  a  sudden  impulse 
to  feeling  and  imagination."  Thus,  he  pointed  out,  the  French 
achieved  their  highest  development  in  science  soon  after  the 
revolution  of  1789. 

In  1863,  when  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences  was  in- 
corporated, de  Tocqueville  would  probably  have  considered  our 
intellectual  dependence  upon  England  to  be  materially  less  than 
at  the  time  of  his  visit  to  the  United  States,  thirty  years  earlier. 
Doubtless  he  would  have  attributed  the  improved  condition  of 
American  science  to  the  effect  of  the  Civil  War,  and  the  con- 
siderable increase  in  wealth  and  leisure.  In  1873,  if  we  may 
judge  from  Tyndall's  remarks  in  the  concluding  lecture  of  his 
American  series,  European  opinion  saw  hope  for  the  future  of 
science  in  the  United  States,  but  recognized  few  important  ac- 
complishments. "If  great  scientific  results  are  not  achieved 
in  America,  it  is  not  to  the  small  agitations  of  society  that  I 
should  be  disposed  to  ascribe  the  defect,  but  to  the  fact  that 
the  men  among  you  who  possess  the  endowments  necessary 
for  profound  scientific  inquiry  are  laden  with  duties  of  ad- 
ministration, so  heavy  as  to  be  utterly  incompatible  with  the 
continuous  and  tranquil  meditation  which  original  investiga- 
tion demands."  At  this  time  Henry  was  secretary  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  Barnard  was  president  of  Columbia 
College,  and  Rogers  was  president  of  the  Massachusetts  In- 
stitute of  Technology.  There  was  thus  some  justification  for 
Tyndall's  remark,  though  the  amount  of  scientific  research  in 
progress  was  much  larger  than  one  would  infer  from  his  state- 
ment of  the  case.  Moreover,  though  deprived  by  other  duties 
of  the  privilege  of  personal  work  in  the  laboratory,  these  very 
men,  charter  members  of  the  National  Academy,  had  assisted 
in  laying  the  foundations  of  science  in  America. 

One  of  the  most  striking  pen  portraits  of  President  Lincoln 


io  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

that  we  possess  depicts  him  on  the  great  tower  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution,  which  he  ascended  night  after  night  with 
Joseph  Henry,  during  the  Civil  War.  From  this  vantage  point 
lights  were  flashed  to  distant  stations,  in  connection  with  tests 
of  new  methods  of  signaling.  It  was  in  such  researches  for 
military  purposes  that  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences  had 
its  origin. 

The  period  of  these  experiments  was  an  anxious  one.  Many 
months  of  war,  marked  by  serious  and  unexpected  reverses, 
had  left  small  room  for  over-confidence,  and  taught  the  neces- 
sity of  utilizing  every  promising  means  of  strengthening  the 
northern  arms.  With  one  or  two  notable  exceptions,  the  great 
scientific  bureaus  of  the  Government,  now  so  powerful,  had 
not  come  into  existence.  But  the  country  was  not  without  its 
leaders  of  science  and  engineering,  both  within  and  without  the 
Government  circle.  Davis,  fighting  Admiral,  Chief  of  the 
Bureau  of  Navigation,  and  founder  of  the  Nautical  Almanac ; 
Bache,  Superintendent  of  the  Coast  Survey,  and  designer  of 
the  defenses  of  Philadelphia ;  and  Joseph  Henry,  of  whom  we 
have  already  spoken,  clearly  recognized  the  need  of  a  national 
organization,  embracing  the  whole  range  of  science,  to  ad- 
vise the  Government  on  questions  of  science  and  art.  Joining 
with  them  Louis  Agassiz,  the  great  naturalist;  Benjamin 
Pierce,  mathematician  and  astronomer;  and  B.  A.  Gould, 
founder  of  the  Observatory  of  the  Argentine  Republic,  they 
planned  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences.  A  bill  to  incor- 
porate the  Academy  was  introduced  in  the  Senate  by  Senator 
Wilson  of  Massachusetts  on  February  21,  1863.  This  passed 
the  Senate  and  the  House,  and  was  signed  by  President  Lincoln 
on  March  3.  After  enumerating  the  charter  members,  who 
comprised  the  leading  men  of  science  and  engineers  of  the  day, 
and  empowering  the  Academy  to  make  its  own  organization, 
the  bill  provides  that  "  the  Academy  shall,  whenever  called  upon 
by  any  department  of  the  Government,  investigate,  examine, 
experiment  and  report  upon  any  subject  of  science  or  art,  the 
actual  expense  of  such  investigations,  examinations,  experi- 


SCIENCE  UNDER  NAPOLEON  n 

ments,  and  reports  to  be  paid  from  appropriations  which  may 
be  made  for  the  purpose ;  but  the  Academy  shall  receive  no 
compensation  whatever  for  any  services  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States." 

As  the  adviser  of  the  Government  on  questions  of  science,  the 
Academy  was  immediately  called  upon  by  the  War  and  Navy 
Departments  to  report  on  various  problems  connected  with  the 
war.  Among  these  reports  the  following  may  be  mentioned : 

On  the  Protection  of  Bottoms  of  Iron  Vessels  from  Corro- 
sion. 

On  the  Adjustment  of  Compasses  to  Correct  Magnetic  De- 
viation in  Iron  Ships. 

On  Wind  and  Current  Charts  and  Sailing  Directions. 

On  the  Explosion  on  the  United  States  steamer  Chenango. 

On  Experiments  on  the  Expansion  of  Steam. 

On  the  Preservation  of  Paint  on  Army  Knapsacks. 

In  addition  to  such  formal  reports  from  special  committees, 
many  members  of  the  Academy  contributed  individually  to  the 
study  of  war  problems.  Thus  we  find  in  the  early  records 
the  titles  of  such  papers  as  the  following: 

F.  A.  P.  Barnard :  On  the  force  of  fired  gun-powder  and 
the  pressure  to  which  heavy  guns  are  actually  subjected  in 
firing. 

Joseph  Henry :  On  materials  for  combustion  of  lamps  in 
lighthouses. 

J.  E.  Hilgard  :  On  a  chronograph  for  measuring  the  velocity 
of  projectiles. 

J.  E.  Hilgard:  Note  on  the  changes  that  have  taken  place 
in  the  bar  of  Charleston  Harbor  since  the  sinking  of  obstruc- 
tions in  the  main  channel. 

B.  A.  Gould:  Various  papers  on  the  stature,  proportions, 
ages,  and  vision  of  American  soldiers. 

W.  H.  C.  Bartlett :     On  rifled  guns. 

Most  of  the  work  of  the  members  on  war  problems  was,  of 
course,  not  embodied  in  published  papers,  though  it  formed  an 
important  part  of  the  activities  of  the  Government. 


12  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

This  illustration  of  a  national  organization  of  science,  includ- 
ing representatives  of  the  army,  navy,  and  civil  branches  of 
the  Government,  cooperating  closely  with  the  men  of  science  in 
civil  life,  recalls  the  similar  organization  in  France  under  Na- 
poleon. Since  the  Civil  War  the  National  Academy  has  been 
called  upon  by  the  President,  by  Congress,  and  by  the  heads  of 
Government  departments  to  deal  with  many  scientific  problems, 
of  the  most  diverse  nature.  A  new  opportunity  for  national 
service,  which  arose  with  the  German  menace,  was  recognized 
and  acted  upon  nearly  a  year  before  the  United  States  entered 
the  present  war. 


V 


II 

WAR  SERVICES  OF  THE  NATIONAL 
RESEARCH  COUNCIL 

GEORGE  ELLERY  HALE 

BROADLY  speaking,  the  organizations  of  scientific  men  ef- 
fected in  this  country  and  in  Europe  under  the  influence 
of  the  war  were  of  two  classes:  (i)  those  temporarily  con- 
stituted, either  as  separate  groups  or  as  parts  of  existing 
branches  of  the  army  or  navy,  to  deal  with  military,  naval,  or 
industrial  problems :  and  (2)  those  permanently  established 
for  the  promotion  and  development  of  scientific  and  industrial 
research.  They  therefore  correspond  to  the  two  general  ef- 
fects that  such  a  war  must  inevitably  produce  in  unprepared 
countries,  the  Governments  of  which  have  lacked  adequate  ap- 
preciation of  the  national  value  of  science :  A  sudden  demand 
for  military  and  naval  equipment  of  new  types  and  for  products 
formerly  imported  from  enemy  countries,  and  an  almost  equally 
sudden  recognition  of  the  fact  that  science  and  research  must 
henceforth  be  recognized  and  developed  as  national  assets  of 
the  first  importance. 

It  is  obviously  impossible  within  the  limits  of  this  book  to 
describe  the  work  of  these  numerous  organizations  or  even 
to  mention  their  names,  though  some  typical  illustrations  of 
their  activities  may  be  found  in  subsequent  chapters.  It  is  to 
be  hoped  that  adequate  reports  will  be  published  of  the  work 
of  such  bodies  as  the  Naval  Consulting  Board  and  others,  both 
military  and  civil,  that  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  war. 
When  temporarily  constituted,  their  history  forms  an  impor- 
tant part  of  the  war  record.  But  when  permanently  estab- 

13 


14  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

lished,  to  deal  during  the  war  with  its  special  problems,  and 
later  to  promote  the  broad  interests  of  scientific  and  industrial 
research,  they  call  for  special  consideration,  because  of  the  im- 
portant bearing  of  their  war  activities  on  those  to  be  under- 
taken under  peace  conditions.  In  the  United  States  the  na- 
tional body  of  this  character  is  the  National  Research  Council, 
formed  by  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences  at  the  call  of  the 
President. 

In  April,  1916,  when  the  wanton  attack  on  the  Sussex  had 
greatly  increased  the  tension  of  our  relations  with  Germany, 
the  Academy  voted  unanimously  to  offer  its  services  to  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  He  accepted  this  offer  im- 
mediately, and  expressed  the  desire  that  the  Academy  should 
bring  into  cooperation  governmental,  educational,  industrial, 
and  other  research  agencies,  primarily  in  the  interest  of  the  na- 
tional defense,  but  with  full  recognition  of  the  duties  that  must 
be  performed  in  the  furtherance  of  scientific  and  industrial 
progress. 

The  Academy's  connection  with  the  Government,  its  inclu- 
sion of  the  whole  range  of  science,  and  its  many  years  of  co- 
operation with  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  the  Paris  Academy 
of  Sciences,  and  other  similar  institutions  abroad,  pointed  to  it 
as  the  only  body  in  the  United  States  in  a  position  to  comply 
with  the  President's  request.  It  was  clear,  however,  that  mem- 
bership in  the  desired  organization  should  not  be  exclusively 
confined  to  the  National  Academy.  Many  technical  bureaus 
of  the  army  and  navy,  for  example,  should  be  represented  by 
their  chiefs  ex-officio,  and  in  other  cases  a  varied  membership, 
broadly  representative  of  research  in  its  numerous  aspects, 
would  also  be  desirable.  The  Organizing  Committee  accord- 
ingly proposed  the  establishment  of  a  new  body,  resting  legally 
upon  the  charter  of  the  Academy,  sharing  its  privileges,  both 
at  home  and  abroad,  and  at  the  same  time  affording  the  wide 
freedom  of  selection  desired. 

The  National  Research  Council,  comprising  the  chiefs  of 
the  technical  bureaus  of  the  army  and  navy,  the  heads  of  gov- 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL          15 

ernment  bureaus  engaged  in  scientific  research,  a  group  of  in- 
vestigators representing  educational  institutions  and  research 
foundations,  and  another  group  including  representatives  of 
industrial  and  engineering  research,  was  accordingly  consti- 
tuted by  the  Academy  with  the  active  cooperation  of  the  leading 
scientific  and  engineering  societies.  The  important  part  taken 
by  the  Engineering  Foundation,  which  voted  to  apply  its  entire 
income  for  the  year  toward  the  expense  of  organization,  to  give 
the  services  of  its  Secretary,  and  to  provide  a  New  York  office 
for  the  Research  Council,  is  a  noteworthy  illustration  of  the 
cordial  support  given  by  the  engineers. 

On  July  24,  1916,  President  Wilson  addressed  the  following 
letter  to  the  President  of  the  National  Academy : 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  July  24,  1916. 
Dr.  William  H.  Welch, 

President   of   the    National   Academy   of    Sciences,    Baltimore, 

Maryland. 

MY  DEAR  DR.  WELCH  :  I  want  to  tell  you  with  what  gratification 
I  have  received  the  preliminary  report  of  the  National  Research 
Council,  which  was  formed  at  my  request  under  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences.  The  outline  of  work  there  set  forth  and 
the  evidences  of  remarkable  progress  towards  the  accomplishment 
of  the  object  of  the  Council  are  indeed  gratifying.  May  I  not 
take  this  occasion  to  say  that  the  Departments  of  the  government 
are  ready  to  cooperate  in  every  way  that  may  be  required,  and  that 
the  heads  of  the  Departments  most  immediately  concerned  are  now, 
at  my  request,  actively  engaged  in  considering  the  best  methods  of 
cooperation  ? 

Representatives   of   government   bureaus   will   be   appointed   as 
members  of  the  Research  Council  as  the  Council  desires. 
Cordially  and  sincerely  yours, 

(Signed)     WOODROW  WILSON. 

An  Executive  Order,  requesting  the  National  Academy  to 
perpetuate  the  National  Research  Council,  defining  its  duties, 
and  providing  for  the  cooperation  of  the  Government,  was 
subsequently  issued  by  the  President. 


16  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

The  National  Research  Council  was  formally  organized  at 
a  meeting  held  in  the  Engineering  Societies  Building  in  New 
York  on  September  20,  1916.  The  United  States  had  not 
yet  broken  relations  with  Germany,  but  some  important  steps, 
looking  toward  preparation  for  war,  could  be  taken  without 
delay.  A  national  census  of  research,  including  data  regard- 
ing the  equipment  for  research,  the  men  engaged  in  it,  and  the 
lines  of  investigation  pursued  in  cooperating  Government 
Bureaus,  educational  institutions,  research  foundations,  and  in- 
dustrial research  laboratories,  was  taken  by  a  Research  Council 
Committee  under  the  Chairmanship  of  the  Director  of  the 
Bureau  of  Standards.  With  the  cooperation  of  leading  na- 
tional scientific  societies,  committees  were  formed  for  the 
three-fold  object  of  strengthening  the  national  defense,  de- 
veloping American  industries,  and  advancing  knowledge. 
Steps  were  taken  to  secure  the  appointment  of  Research  Com- 
mittees in  educational  institutions,  where  many  problems  re- 
lating to  the  national  defense  were  subsequently  investigated. 
A  strong  committee  was  established  for  the  promotion  of  in- 
dustrial research,  and  comprehensive  plans  were  made  with  the 
view  of  securing  a  far  wider  recognition  of  the  value  of  re- 
search in  the  development  of  American  industries. 

However,  relations  with  Germany  grew  rapidly  worse, 
finally  resulting  in  war.  On  February  28,  1917,  the  Council 
of  National  Defense  passed  a  resolution  expressing  its  recogni- 
tion of  the  fact  that  the  National  Research  Council,  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  President,  had  undertaken  to  organize  the  sci- 
entific resources  of  the  country  in  the  interest  of  national  wel- 
fare, and  inviting  the  Council  to  cooperate  with  it  in  matters  per- 
taining to  scientific  research  for  national  defense.  Soon  after- 
wards, the  Research  Council  was  requested  to  act  during  the 
»  war  as  the  Department  of  Science  and  Research  of  the  Council 
of  National  Defense.  As  war  approached,  the  Research 
Council  opened  offices  in  Washington  and  prepared  to  give  its 
entire  attention  to  military  and  naval  problems,  and  to  in- 
dustrial problems  developed  by  our  entrance  into  hostilities. 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL          17 

Two  lines  of  effort,  demanding  very  different  modes  of  pro- 
cedure, lay  before  the  Council  in  entering  upon  its  war  serv- 
ices. Many  new  scientific  methods,  unfamiliar  in  the  United 
States,  had  been  developed  and  successfully  applied  by  our 
Allies  during  the  war.  It  was  a  matter  of  the  first  importance 
that  we  should  lose  no  time  in  profiting  by  such  advantages, 
which  demanded  for  their  application  the  organization  of 
new  services  in  the  army  and  navy,  and  the  enlistment  of  large 
numbers  of  scientific  men  for  service  at  home  and  in  the  field. 
In  the  second  place,  experience  abroad  had  shown  the  necessity 
of  conducting  researches  for  the  solution  of  military,  naval, 
and  industrial  problems,  even  after  war  had  begun.  It  goes 
without  saying  that  such  researches,  which  demand  much  time 
and  thought,  should  have  been  initiated  years  before  the  out- 
break ef  war.  But  as  preparedness  for  national  defense  had 
been  as  sadly  neglected  in  its  scientific  aspects  as  on  its  more 
obviously  military  side,  there  was  no  alternative.  In  Ger- 
many, where  a  short  war  had  been  expected,  the  men  of  science 
had  been  called  upon  after  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  to  develop 
new  processes  and  to  provide  substitutes  for  commodities  cut 
off  by  the  blockade.  In  France  and  England,  researches  con- 
ducted under  the  disturbing  conditions  of  war  had  been  equally 
successful.  It  was  plain  that  we  in  the  United  States  must 
lose  no  time  in  taking  advantage  of  our  great  national  asset 
of  scientific  men  and  laboratories. 

At  this  point  a  fundamental  principle  in  the  policy  of  the  Na- 
tional Research  Council  should  be  mentioned.  In  spite  of  its 
establishment  for  the  promotion  and  utilization  of  scientific  re- 
search, the  Council  took  the  stand  from  the  outset  that  in  time 
of  war  the  proper  procedure  is  to  adopt  and  immediately  to 
utilize  at  the  front  the  best  available  military  device  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  any  purpose  in  view,  before  attempting  to 
develop  a  more  effective  means  of  serving  the  same  end. 
When  men  and  means  were  available,  researches  for  the  im- 
provement of  such  devices,  or  for  the  development  of  new  ones, 
might  advantageously  be  initiated  in  many  cases,  but  there 


i8  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

could  be  no  excuse  for  delaying  action  in  order  to  await  the 
outcome  of  these  researches.  In  time  of  war  there  can  surely 
be  no  justification  for  delays  due  to  a  desire  to  gratify  per- 
sonal or  national  pride  in  inventiveness  or  originality. 

When  a  scientific  investigator  undertakes  any  piece  of  re- 
search, his  first  act  is  invariably  to  ascertain  just  what  work  has 
already  been  accomplished  in  that  field.  It  goes  without  say- 
ing, therefore,  that  an  organization  composed  of  scientific  in- 
vestigators must  proceed  in  the  same  way  in  attacking  any 
large  problem  involving  research.  Moreover,  it  must  lose  no 
time  in  arranging  for  close  cooperation  with  the  scientific  men 
of  other  nations  concerned  with  the  same  problem. 

Accordingly,  the  President  of  the  National  Academy,  ac- 
companied by  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  appointed  by 
the  Academy  to  organize  the  Research  Council,  made  a  pre- 
liminary visit  to  England  and  France  in  August,  1916,  in  order 
to  learn  the  general  character  of  the  war  services  rendered 
by  the  scientific  men  of  these  countries.  They  found  the  in- 
vestigators, with  whom  they  had  cooperated  for  many  years 
in  scientific  research,  actively  engaged  in  the  study  of  war 
problems.  Eminent  physicists,  always  successful  in  research 
and  prolific  in  new  ideas,  were  giving  much  attention  to  the  im- 
provement of  airplanes,  which  were  so  greatly  increased  in 
efficiency  in  England  during  the  war.  Others  were  attacking 
the  submarine  problem,  the  full  menace  of  which  has  finally 
become  known  to  the  public  through  the  recent  articles  of  Ad- 
miral Sims.  The  Astronomer  Royal,  most  of  whose  staff  was 
at  the  front,  was  utilizing  the  facilities  of  the  Royal  Observa- 
tory at  Greenwich  for  the  rating  of  chronometers  and  the  ad- 
justment of  field-glasses.  On  the  roof  was  a  range-finder  for 
the  location  of  Zeppelins  and  German  airplanes,  which  had 
recently  dropped  bombs  in  the  Observatory  garden.  Distin- 
guished physiologists  were  seeking  means  of  alleviating  the 
new  sufferings  imported  by  the  Huns  into  warfare.  In  fact, 
all  British  men  of  science,  if  unable  to  enlist  for  duty  at  the 
front,  were  devoting  themselves  to  any  available  war  service. 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL          19 

In  France  the  activities  of  the  men  of  science,  who  responded 
to  the  earliest  call  for  the  national  defense,  were  no  less  im- 
pressive. The  Minister  of  Public  Instruction,  himself  an  able 
mathematician  and  member  of  the  Institute,  had  organized 
a  strong  group,  which  dealt  with  a  great  number  of  war  prob- 
lems. Some  of  its  members  were  the  first  to  conceive  and  to 
carry  into  effect  the  method  of  sound- ranging,  a  brilliant  ap- 
plication of  physics  in  warfare.  Leading  physicists  and 
astronomers  with  whom  American  investigators  had  long  been 
associated  in  the  work  of  the  International  Union  for  Coopera- 
tion in  Solar  Research,  were  prominent  members  of  this  group. 
The  Paris  Academy  of  Sciences  was  also  contributing  largely 
through  its  members  toward  the  solution  of  scientific  questions 
of  both  military  and  industrial  importance.  Such  examples 
afforded  a  powerful  stimulus  to  those  American  investigators 
who  felt  that  the  continued  lawlessness  of  the  Germans  must 
soon  identify  our  interests  with  those  of  the  Allies. 

On  the  day  preceding  the  entrance  of  the  United  States  into 
the  war,  the  following  cablegram  was  sent  by  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences  to  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  the 
Paris  Academy  of  Sciences,  the  Accademia  dei  Lincei  of 
Rome,  and  the  Petrograd  Academy  of  Sciences  —  leading  sci- 
entific bodies,  then  engaged  in  the  study  of  war  problems,  with 
which  the  National  Academy  had  cooperated  for  many  years 
in  scientific  research. 

.TV 

The  entrance  of  the  United  States  into  the  war  unites  our  men 
of  science  with  yours  in  a  common  cause.  The  National  Academy 
of  Sciences,  acting  through  the  National  Research  Council,  which 
has  been  designated  by  President  Wilson  and  the  Council  of  Na- 
tional Defense  to  mobilize  the  research  facilities  of  the  country, 
would  glady  cooperate  in  any  scientific  researches  still  underlying 
the  solution  of  military  or  industrial  problems. 

Steps  were  also  taken  to  despatch  a  group  of  seven  scientific 
investigators  to  France  and  England  for  the  study  of  war  prob- 
lems and  the  arrangement  of  effective  means  of  cooperation. 


20  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

The  members  of  the  Committee  sailed  early  in  May,  1917,  and 
were  most  cordially  welcomed  and  given  information  of  great 
value. 

The  response  of  our  foreign  colleagues  to  our  offer  of  co- 
operation was  immediate  and  effective.  France  sent  to  the 
United  States  an  able  group  of  investigators,  and  both  Eng- 
land and  Italy  did  likewise.  The  French  members  brought 
with  them  a  large  collection  of  instruments  and  devices  devel- 
oped in  France  for  military  and  naval  purposes  since  the  out- 
break of  the  war,  which  was  invaluable  in  connection  with  our 
work. 

Just  at  this  time  the  submarine  danger  was  at  its  height. 
Shipping  to  the  amount  of  900,000  tons  was  sunk  by  the  Ger- 
mans in  April,  1917,  and  the  British  Government  was  ex- 
tremely doubtful  whether  this  menace,  the  most  serious  of 
the  war,  could  be  overcome.  As  Admiral  Sims  has  recently 
pointed  out,  quick  action  was  essential.  The  depth  charge  had 
already  been  invented,  and  naval  officers  all  agreed  that  if 
the  submarine  could  be  definitely  located  it  could  be  easily 
destroyed.  Thus  the  problem  for  the  scientific  investigator 
was  to  devise  a  means  of  determining  the  exact  position  of  a 
submerged  submarine.  Wrhile  it  was  true  that  the  results  of 
their  researches  might  not  be  obtained  and  applied  in  time,  it 
was  equally  clear  that  no  effort  should  be  spared,  even  at  that 
late  date,  to  devise  the  apparatus  so  urgently  required.  If  the 
vigorous  action  of  the  combined  navies  of  the  Allies  should 
succeed  in  alleviating  the  menace,  without  wholly  overcoming 
it,  there  might  be  time  to  develop  a  detection  method  which 
would  permit  the  finishing  blow  to  be  dealt.  Fortunately  for 
the  cause  of  the  Allies,  the  convoy  system,  then  regarded  by 
the  masters  of  merchant  ships  as  impracticable,  was  soon  suc- 
cessfully applied.  But  this  outcome  could  not  be  foreseen, 
and  the  men  of  science  were  in  duty  bound  to  contribute  their 
best  efforts  without  delay. 

The  National  Research  Council  accordingly  organized  a  con- 
ference on  the  submarine  problem  in  which  the  foreign  repre- 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL         21 

sentatives,  with  officers  of  the  Navy  Department,  and  the 
physicists  and  engineers  who  had  already  studied  the  question 
in  this  country,  participated.1  In  order  to  make  clear  the 
general  nature  of  the  methods  discussed,  the  following  brief 
description  of  the  apparatus  employed  may  be  of  service. 

Submarine  detection  devices  are  of  two  principal  classes : 
listening  apparatus,  on  the  principle  of  the  microphone  or  the 
stethoscope,  and  instruments  analogous  to  searchlights  for  use 
under  water,  in  which  the  beam  of  light  is  replaced  by  a  beam 
of  sound.  A  simple  physician's  stethoscope,  if  placed  under 
water  and  connected  to  the  ear  by  tubing,  will  render  audible 
the  sound  from  a  rapidly  moving  submarine  at  a  distance  of 
a  mile  or  more.  Indeed,  a  small  piece  of  rubber  tubing,  if 
substituted  for  the  stethoscope,  will  serve  very  well  as  a  sound 
detector.  By  connecting  with  the  ears  two  stethoscopes,  at 
opposite  ends  of  a  supporting  bar  three  or  four  feet  long,  the 
direction  of  a  moving  submarine  can  be  determined  with  con- 
siderable accuracy  by  rotating  the  bar  in  a  horizontal  plane  and 
utilizing  the  same  binaural  discrimination  with  which  we  as- 
certain the  direction  of  sounds  without  apparatus.  By  re- 
fining this  apparatus,  it  is  even  possible  to  employ  it  on  a  sub- 
marine destroyer  moving  at  a  speed  of  several  knots,  in  spite 
of  the  local  sounds  due  to  the  destroyer.  However,  the 
method  is  seriously  limited  in  actual  practice ;  it  cannot  be  used 
on  vessels  moving  at  high  speed,  it  cannot  detect  submarines 
lying  at  rest  or  moving  at  low  speed,  and  confusion  may  result 
from  the  presence  of  several  surface  vessels,  as  in  the  case  of 
a  convoy. 

We  therefore  look  for  assistance  to  an  entirely  different 
device.  A  beam  from  a  searchlight  is  quenched  by  a  short 
thickness  of  water,  but  a  beam  of  high  frequency  sound  waves 

1  Three  able  groups  of  investigators  were  already  at  work  on  this 
question  in  the  United  States  under  the  Bureau  of  Steam  Engineering 
of  the  Navy,  and  both  the  Naval  Consulting  Board  and  the  National 
Research  Council  had  taken  part  in  promoting  studies  of  the  submarine 
problem. 


22  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

can  penetrate  water  to  a  great  distance.  Soon  after  the  loss 
of  the  Titanic,  an  English  inventor  was  granted  patents  for  his 
method  of  detecting  objects  above  and  below  water  by  the  echo 
of  beams  of  sound,  ranging  in  frequency  from  5,00x3  to  100,000 
complete  vibrations  per  second.  The  method  was  not  carried 
into  practical  effect  at  that  time,  but  during  the  war  the  same 
principle  was  applied  by  French  and  British  men  of  science, 
and  important  progress  resulted.  Before  the  end  of  the  war 
this  device  had  been  developed  to  such  a  degree  as  to  enable 
a  destroyer  to  detect  and  run  down  a  submarine  more  than  a 
mile  away. 

After  a  two  days'  discussion  of  such  methods  by  the  Sub- 
marine Conference,  it  became  clear  that  a  greatly  intensified 
attack  on  the  problem  of  detection  should  be  made.  The  Re- 
search Council  accordingly  brought  to  Washington  more  than 
forty  leading  physicists,  and  a  second  conference,  of  several 
days'  duration,  was  held  with  the  foreign  naval  officers  and 
men  of  science.  This  resulted  in  the  selection  of  several  groups 
of  investigators  to  take  up  the  problem  at  a  point  in  its  de- 
velopment already  attained  here  and  abroad,  and  to  continue 
its  study  in  cooperation  with  a  special  board  appointed  by  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  on  which  the  National  Research  Coun- 
cil was  represented.  A  more  complete  account  of  this  work, 
which  involved  the  organization  of  special  investigations  in 
laboratories  in  many  parts  of  the  country,  may  be  found  in 
Chapter  3. 

An  important  extension  of  the  duties  of  the  National  Re- 
search Council  occurred  in  July,  1917,  when  it  was  requested 
by  the  Chief  Signal  Officer  of  the  army  to  organize  the  Division 
of  Science  and  Research  of  the  Signal  Corps.  A  vice-chair- 
man of  the  Council  was  commissioned  in  the  army  and  placed 
in  charge  of  this  Division,  which  was  given  offices  in  the  build- 
ing of  the  National  Research  Council  in  Washington,  where  the 
Division  undertook  the  solution  of  numerous  problems  of  mili- 
tary importance.  Here  it  was  a  question  both  of  the  immediate 
application  of  new  scientific  methods  developed  during  the 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL          23 

war  and  the  solution  by  research  of  outstanding  problems. 
Both  of  these  phases  of  the  work  of  the  Division,  including 
the  organization  of  the  Sound-Ranging  and  Meteorological 
Services  of  the  Army,  and  the  development  and  application  of 
improved  methods  of  photography  from  airplanes,  are  de- 
scribed in  subsequent  chapters  by  those  who  took  part  in  the 
work. 

A  glance  through  the  third  annual  report  of  the  National 
Research  Council,  which  briefly  surveys  the  war  activities  of 
its  many  Divisions,  occupied  with  every  branch  of  science,  and 
with  engineering,  medicine,  and  agriculture,  will  indicate  the 
impossibility  of  giving  in  this  chapter  more  than  a  few  illus- 
trations of  the  work  performed.  In  nearly  all  cases  the  chief 
purpose  in  view  was  to  bring  into  a  cooperating  group  the  men 
dealing  with  different  aspects  of  a  problem.  A  good  case  in 
point  is  the  work  of  the  Committee  on  Explosives,  authorized 
by  the  Secretaries  of  War  and  Navy  for  the  purpose  of  survey- 
ing current  investigations  on  explosives,  bringing  useful  infor- 
mation to  the  attention  of  the  proper  military  and  naval  author- 
ities, and  arranging  for  the  prosecution  of  supplementary  in- 
vestigations by  governmental,  industrial,  or  other  research 
agencies.  (See  Chapter  9.)  The  extensive  work  of  the 
Committee  on  Nitrate  Investigations,  appointed  at  the  request 
of  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  described  in  Chapter  8,  is  an- 
other good  illustration  of  the  war  researches  organized  by  the 
Council.  If  space  permitted,  much  might  be  said  of  the  re- 
searches organized  under  the  Chemistry  Division,  which  cov- 
ered a  very  wide  range,  from  the  preparation  in  university 
laboratories  of  rare  drugs  and  other  chemicals  rendered  scarce 
by  the  war,  to  the  study  of  the  physical  properties  of  toxic 
liquids  and  explosives,  and  of  methods  for  combating  toxic 
gases.  Committees  studied  the  potash  needs  and  resources  of 
the  United \  States,  and  the  availability  of  phosphoric  acid  for 
plant  food;  the  rubber  content  of  certain  California  shrubs 
and  the  preparation  for  the  Quartermaster's  Department  of 
specifications  and  tests  for  rubber  compounds;  the  production 


24  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

of  a  better  fuel  for  airplane  motors,  and  the  causes  and  reme- 
dies of  the  low  efficiency  of  carburetors ;  the  location  and  pur- 
chase or  loan  of  apparatus  required  by  the  Government;  the 
sources  of  ceramic  war  materials;  the  preparation  of  courses 
in  chemistry,  combustion  and  fuel  engineering  and  a  special 
war  curriculum  in  ceramic  engineering  for  use  by  the  Students 
Army  Training  Corps ;  the  waterproofing  of  fabrics ;  the  prep- 
aration of  standard  specifications  for  glues  and  gelatines. 
Most  of  these  activities,  and  many  others  of  the  most  varied 
nature,  were  undertaken  at  the  request  of  various  branches  of 
the  Government. 

The  response  of  American  engineers  to  the  numerous  de- 
mands of  the  war  was  quick  and  effective,  and  thousands  of 
them  saw  service  at  home  and  abroad.  The  manufacture  of 
munitions  of  every  kind  and  the  erection  of  new  plants  for 
war  purposes  absorbed  great  numbers  of  engineers  in  this 
country,  and  in  France  their  activities  were  even  more  varied. 
In  the  work  of  the  Research  Council  they  also  played  a 
prominent  part,  and  the  cooperative  investigations  set  on  foot 
by  the  Division  of  Engineering  to  meet  war  needs  are  being 
continued  and  expanded  in  all  directions. 

One  of  these,  which  led  to  the  development  of  a  helmet  of 
remarkable  qualities,  enlisted  the  joint  efforts  of  men  of  the 
most  diversified  experience.  An  authority  on  arms  and  armor, 
familiar1* with  the  practice  of  all  ages,  applied  his  knowledge 
to  the  design  of  the  helmet.  A  distinguished  metallurgist  speci- 
fied the  composition  of  the  special  steels  employed,  and  tested 
the  models  by  machine  gun  fire.  Associated  with  them  were 
able  engineers  and  metallurgists,  competent  to  deal  with  every 
aspect  of  the  question.  Another  metallurgical  problem  arose 
from  faulty  procedure  in  making  and  forging  the  steel  ingots 
used  in  the  manufacture  of  shells,  cannon,  crank-shafts,  etc. 
Flaws  resulted  from  the  inexperience  of  manufacturers  hastily 
called  upon  to  supply  an  overwhelming  demand,  and  the  con- 
sequent rejection  of  the  forgings  appreciably  delayed  our  war 
preparations.  How  this  difficulty  was  overcome  is  described 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL         25 

in  Chapter  14.  Another  means  of  improving  the  quality  of 
steel  has  been  supplied  by  the  development  of  a  pyrometer 
suitable  for  measuring  the  temperature  of  steel  baths  in  fur- 
naces. One  of  the  most  important  of  the  metallurgical  prob- 
lems attacked  was  that  of  the  fatigue  phenomena  of  metals. 
The  results  of  this  investigation  show  that  the  elevation  of  the 
elastic  limit  of  steel,  caused  by  such  processes  as  cold  rolling 
and  wire  drawing,  is  dissipated  by  the  repetition  of  a  wide 
variation  of  stresses,  as  in  aircraft  crank-shafts,  which  may 
ultimately  break  down  from  this  cause. 

The  development  of  certain  war  inventions  was  another  im- 
portant function  of  the  Engineering  Division.  A  staff  of  de- 
signers and  draftsmen,  starting  in  some  cases  with  well-defined 
schemes  and  in  others  with  very  nebulous  suggestions,  worked 
out  the  designs  of  promising  devices,  some  of  which  proved 
very  effective  in  military  practice.  An  interesting  activity  of 
this  branch  of  the  Division,  carried  out  in  conjunction  with 
the  Science  and  Research  Division  of  the  Signal  Corps,  re- 
sulted in  the  production  of  small  balloons,  capable  of  maintain- 
ing themselves  automatically  at  any  desired  altitude,  by  al- 
ternately throwing  out  liquid  ballast  and  releasing  gas.  Bal- 
loons only  nine  inches  in  diameter  (before  inflating)  adjusted 
to  float  at  the  altitude  of  a  known  prevailing  air  current, 
traveled  easterly  from  Fort  Omaha  for  a  distance  of  nearly 
1000  miles.  It  is  now  proposed  to  use  such  balloons  to  ascer- 
tain the  air  currents  above  the  Atlantic  between  the  American 
and  European  coasts. 

In  the  field  of  Geology  and  Geography  the  opportunities 
for  war  activities  were  more  numerous  than  one  might  sup- 
pose. (See  Chapters  n  and  12.)  The  importance  of  utiliz- 
ing geologists  for  service  at  the  front  was  fully  appreciated  by 
the  enemy,  and  a  memorandum  describing  German  methods, 
and  indicating  the  usefulness  of  geological  advice  in  military 
operations  was  presented  to  the  Secretary  of  War  in  1917  by 
the  Division  of  Geology  and  Geography  of  the  Research  Coun- 
cil. A  considerable  development  of  such  service  took  place  in 


26  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

our  army  before  the  Armistice.  A  handbook  of  Northern 
France  and  chapters  dealing  with  the  western  front  from  a 
work  on  Topography  and  Strategy  in  the  War,  both  by  mem- 
bers of  the  Division,  were  gratuitously  distributed  in  large 
numbers  among  officers  of  the  army.  At  the  request  of  the 
Military  Committee  on  Education  and  Special  Training  the 
Division  prepared  text-books  on  Military  Geology  and  Topo- 
graphy and  on  Introductory  Meteorology  for  use  by  the  Stu- 
dents' Army  Training  Corps.  An  exhaustive  report  on  ma- 
terials and  facilities  for  road  building,  fortifications,  and  con- 
crete ship  construction  was  prepared  by  a  committee  of 
geologists  and  engineers  representing  every  coastal  state  from 
Maine  to  Texas.  The  Division  also  supplied  for  the  use  of  the 
Peace  Commission  much  information  on  geological  and  geo- 
graphical subjects,  and  cooperated  in  an  advisory  capacity  with 
the  Division  of  Military  Intelligence  and  various  other  bureaus 
and  commissions  of  the  Government. 

The  role  of  medicine,  hygiene,  and  surgery  in  the  war  is  de- 
scribed in  Chapters  16,  17,  18  and  19.  In  connection  with  this 
far-reaching  work  the  Division  of  Medicine  and  Related  Sci- 
ences was  in  a  position  to  render  a  wide  variety  of  services. 
The  Surgeons  General  of  the  Army  and  Navy  appreciated 
from  the  outset  the  possibilities  of  an  organization  whose  func- 
tion it  was  to  bring  into  cooperation  with  their  offices  the  many 
resources  of  laboratories  and  educational  institutions  through- 
out the  country.  A  constant  effort  was  made  to  recognize  those 
applied  sciences  upon  which  medical  problems  are  dependent 
and  to  include  their  representatives  in  the  organization  of  the 
Division.  In  fact,  no  pains  were  spared  to  render  the  work 
as  useful  as  possible,  without  limitation  of  scope.  For  ex- 
ample, when  a  shortage  of  the  white  mice  used  for  pneumonia 
diagnosis  was  discovered,  the  Division  immediately  arranged 
with  several  cooperating  laboratories  to  breed  the  large  num- 
bers needed.  It  is  interesting  to  record  that  at  the  same  period 
another  Division  of  the  Research  Council  was  equally  active 
in  devising  means  for  the  extermination  of  the  mice  and  other 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL         27 

rodents  that  were  preying  on  the  grain  supply  of  the  country. 

The  chief  purpose  of  the  Division  of  Medicine  and  Related 
Sciences  was  to  mobilize  the  civilian,  medical  and  related  work- 
ers and  laboratories  in  the  United  States,  and  thus  to  create 
a  united  medical  service  to  assist  in  the  solution  of  problems 
connected  with  the  war.  Urgent  questions  were  brought  to 
the  attention  of  the  Division  by  representatives  of  the  War, 
Navy  and  Labor  Departments,  and  the  best  available  workers 
were  then  called  upon  to  attack  them.  Scores  of  committees 
were  formed  for  cooperative  work,  and  in  many  instances  in-^ 
dividuals  working  independently  devoted  their  entire  time  and 
laboratory  facilities  to  war  service.  In  this  chapter  it  will 
suffice  to  indicate  merely  the  general  nature  of  some  of  the  work 
undertaken. 

"  Shock,"  so  diversified  in  its  manifestation  and  so  injurious 
in  its  effects,  was  the  subject  of  extensive  investigation  by 
members  of  the  Division,  both  at  home  and  at  the  front.  Un- 
der the  auspices  of  the  home  committee,  twenty-nine  studies 
were  carried  on  at  ten  stations,  and  while  much  remains  to  be 
explained,  new  light  has  been  thrown  on  certain  clinical  aspects 
of  the  problem.  Another  important  activity  of  the  Division 
was  the  work  of  the  Committee  on  Industrial  Poisonings,  di- 
rected during  the  war  period  to  the  study  of  the  toxic  effects 
of  substances  used  in  the  manufacture  of  explosives  and  the 
detection  of  early  signs  of  intoxication  among  munition 
workers.  Fatigue  in  industrial  pursuits,  of  special  significance 
under  the  high  pressure  of  military  demands,  but  hardly  less 
important  under  peace  conditions,  was  also  extensively  studied, 
from  the  standpoint  of  hygienic  conditions  in  industrial  estab- 
lishments, efficiency  at  different  hours  of  the  working  day, 
and  the  physiological  effects  of  fatigue.  New  methods  of  pro- 
ducing acetone,  a  necessary  solvent  for  airplane  varnishes,  al- 
most unobtainable  during  the  early  period  of  the  war ;  the  cul- 
tivation and  collection  of  native  medicinal  plants,  providing 
for  example,  all  the  digitalis  needed  by  the  army ;  tests  of  new 
antiseptics  and  studies  of  their  application;  investigations  of 


28  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

anerobic  bacteria  of  importance  in  war  wounds;  methods  of 
controlling  trench  lice  and  their  eggs,  and  the  preparation  of 
effective  insecticides  and  methods  of  delousing;  the  develop- 
ment of  a  method  for  the  prevention  of  neuromata  in  amputa- 
tion stumps  after  operations;  improved  means  of  sterilizing 
drinking  water  for  large  bodies  of  troops;  studies  of  strep- 
tococcus infection,  the  cause  and  possible  prevention  by  vac- 
cination of  Spanish  influenza,  skin  grafting,  a  test  for  oxygen- 
lack  in  the  air  of  submarines,  improved  means  of  blood  trans- 
fusion, the  velvet  bean  and  its  utilization  as  a  food,  substi- 
tutes for  cane-sugar,  the  minimum  vitamin  requirement  — 
these  represent  the  character,  though  by  no  means  the  full  ex- 
tent, of  the  activities  of  the  Medical  Division. 

The  extensive  work  of  the  Psychology  Committee,  described 
in  Chapters  20  and  21,  was  one  of  the  most  novel  applications 
of  scientific  method  made  during  the  war.  Here,  as  in  many 
other  cases,  the  existing  conditions  called  chiefly  for  serv- 
ice rather  than  for  research.  The  rating  of  soldiers  on  the 
basis  of  mental  alertness,  actually  applied  to  some  1,700,000 
men,  proved  an  effective  means  of  promptly  eliminating  those 
unfit  for  service  and  utilizing  the  others  for  purposes  calling 
for  different  degrees  of  intelligence.  The  aid  of  psychological 
tests  in  determining  the  qualifications  for  flying,  the  fitness  of 
aviators,  and  the  psychological  effects  of  high  altitudes,  was  also 
of  great  importance.  The  recent  adoption  by  Columbia  Uni- 
versity of  psychological  tests  for  entering  students  and  the 
widespread  application  of  similar  methods  in  industrial  estab- 
lishments, are  significant  illustrations  of  the  effects  of  the  war. 

Anthropology  might  be  supposed  a  science  remote  from  war, 
but  a  previously  unrecognized  discrimination  against  the  taller 
native-born  American  was  prevented  when,  on  recommenda- 
tion of  the  anthropologists,  the  minimum  stature  of  63  inches 
for  acceptance  in  general  military  service  was  reduced  to  60 
inches.  The  statistical  methods  employed  in  the  measurement 
of  soldiers  were  also  revised,  and  the  resulting  records  have 
been  classified  and  studied  with  reference  to  the  origin  of  in- 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL         29 

dividuals  in  157  sections  of  the  United  States,  the  subdivision 
being  based  primarily  upon  the  racial  constitution  of  the  popu- 
lation. 

In  the  broad  field  of  agriculture,  botany,  forestry,  zoology, 
and  fisheries,  numerous  investigators  and  research  agencies, 
brought  into  cooperation  by  this  Research  Council  Division, 
organized  much  work  of  importance.  Some  of  this  was  of  an 
emergency  nature,  but  in  most  cases  the  studies  undertaken  are 
no  less  applicable  to  the  needs  of  peace  than  to  those  of  war. 
The  indication  of  sources  of  material  for  making  the  special 
charcoal  required  for  gas-masks,  and  the  presentation  of  evi-^ 
dence  that  certain  native  woods  are  better  suited  than  African 
mahogany  for  airplane  propellers,  thus  saving  thousands  of 
tons  of  shipping,  are  typical  war  activities,  though  both  are 
not  without  application  under  post-war  conditions.  The  ex- 
termination of  rodent  pests,  undertaken  in  cooperation  with 
the  United  States  Biological  Survey,  was  of  special  importance 
during  the  period  of  the  war.  The  presence  or  absence  in 
poultry  food  of  certain  substances  influencing  egg  production 
was  the  subject  of  an  extensive  investigation,  in  which  poultry- 
men  both  East  and  West  took  part.  A  group  of  soil  and  fer- 
tilizer specialists  from  North  and  South  Dakota,  Minnesota, 
Wisconsin,  Iowa,  Nebraska,  Kansas,  and  Missouri  was  organ- 
ized for  the  study  of  fertilizer  problems  of  that  large  agricul- 
tural region,  and  the  special  cooperation  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  was  secured  for  a  further  investigation  of  the 
questions  involved.  The  protein  element  in  animal  feeding  and 
the  physiological  salt  requirements  of  representative  cultivated 
plants  were  the  subjects  of  two  other  cooperative  researches, 
involving  the  joint  efforts  of  many  investigators  and  labora- 
tories. Other  researches,  too  numerous  to  be  mentioned  here, 
also  stand  to  the  credit  of  the  Division. 

An  outstanding  fact  in  this  work  of  the  National  Research 
Council  is  the  splendid  spirit  of  cooperation  shown  by  those 
who  took  part  in  it.  Personal  rivalries  were  thrown  aside, 
ideas  and  information  were  freely  exchanged,  and  the  one  con- 


30  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

cern  of  each  investigator  was  to  aid  in  the  solution  of  the 
problem  at  hand.  In  many  cases,  if  not  in  all,  this  spirit  has 
survived  the  Armistice.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  the  direct  losses 
suffered  by  science  through  the  war,  in  men,  in  revenue,  and  in 
diversion  of  effort,  will  be  largely  compensated  in  the  future 
if  the  advantages  attainable  through  cooperation  can  be  realized. 


THE  ROLE  OF 

PHYSICAL  SCIENCE 

IN  THE  WAR 


Ill 

CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE 
ROBERT  A.  MILLIKAN 

FROM  the  days  of  Alexander  and  Caesar,  if  not  from  periods 
even  more  remote,  the  engineer  has  been  a  vital  adjunct 
of  a  successful  army ;  for  war  machines  have  always  had  to  be 
built  and  operated,  bridges  thrown  across  rivers,  roads  rendered 
passable,  new  terrain  surveyed  and  new  fortifications  designed 
and  constructed.  These  and  their*  like  have  been  from  the 
earliest  times  the  standardized  operations  of  the  Engineer  Corps 
of  every  army.  But  there  is  another  and  a  quite  distinct  role 
which  the  physical  sciences  played  in  the  great  war.  For  never 
in  the  history  of  warfare  up  to  the  year  1914  had  the  whole 
scientific  brains  of  any  nation  been  systematically  mobilized 
for  the  express  purpose  of  finding  immediately  new  ways  of 
applying  the  accumulated  scientific  knowledge  of  the  world  to 
the  ends  of  war. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  in  this  chapter  to  deal  with  the  standard- 
ized operations  of  the  technical  corps  of  the  army  and  navy 
during  the  great  war.  For  this  I  have  no  competence.  I  shall 
endeavor  rather  to  pass  in  rapid  review  the  most  significant 
of  the  newer  developments  which  were  due  in  large  measure 
to  the  organized  activities  of  scientists  who,  until  the  great  war, 
had  no  association  with  things  military.  Many  of  these  scien- 
tists, like  the  writer,  became  connected  during  the  war  either 
as  officers  or  as  civilian  employees  with  the  military  depart- 
ments of  the  Government.  But  whatever  our  official  connec- 
tion with  the  military  service,  we  were  all  associated  in  our 
scientific  activities  through  the  National  Research  Council, 

33 


34  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

which  acted  in  the  United  States  as  the  great  clearing  house  of 
scientific  information,  and  as  a  coordinating  and  stimulating 
agency  for  scientific  research  and  development  work  in  aid 
of  the  war. 

So  far  as  developments  in  the  physical  sciences  are  concerned 
this  coordinating  and  stimulating  work  was  done  through  three 
main  agencies,  namely,  first,  the  executive  committee  of  the 
Division  of  Physical  Sciences  of  the  Research  Council,  second, 
the  Research  Information  Service,  and  third,  the  weekly  con- 
ference of  the  Physics  and  Engineering  Divisions  of  the  Coun- 
cil. 

The  National  Research  Council,  being  itself  a  voluntary 
association  for  research  purposes  of  the  scientific  agencies  of 
the  country,  civilian  and  governmental,  industrial  and  academic, 
it  was  to  be  expected  that  the  Executive  Committee  of  its 
Division  of  Physical  Sciences  would  embrace  representatives  of 
important  scientific  and  technical  agencies.  Its  membership 
was  as  follows:  Prof.  J.  S.  Ames,  representing  the  National 
Advisory  Committee  for  Aeronautics,  Dr.  L.  A.  Bauer  of  the 
Department  of  Terrestrial  Magnetism  of  the  Carnegie  Institu- 
tion of  Washington,  Dr.  A.  L.  Day  of  the  Geophysical  Labora- 
tory, Major  A.  L.  Leuschner  of  the  Chemical  Warfare  Service, 
Dr.  C.  F.  Marvin,  Chief  of  the  Weather  Bureau,  Lt.  Col.  R.  A. 
Millikan,  representing  the  Signal  Corps  and  the  Anti-submarine 
Board  of  the  Navy,  Major  F.  R.  Moulton  of  the  Bureau  of 
Ordnance  of  the  Army,  Major  C.  E.  Menedenhall  of  the  Bureau 
of  Aircraft  Production,  Dr.  E.  F.  Nichols  of  the  Bureau  of 
Ordnance  of  the  Navy,  Dr.  H.  N.  Russell,  associated  with  both 
the  Engineer  Corps  and  the  Bureau  of  Aircraft  Production, 
Dr.  W.  C.  Sabine  of  the  Advisory  Committee  for  Aeronautics 
and  the  Bureau  of  Aircraft  Production,  Dr.  Frank  Schlesinger 
of  the  Bureau  of  Aircraft  Production,  General  George  O. 
Squier,  Chief  of  the  Signal  Corps,  Dr.  S.  W.  Stratton,  Head 
of  the  Bureau  of  Standards  and  Dr.  R.  S.  Woodward,  Head 
of  the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Washington. 

This  committee  held  stated  meetings  for  the  formulation  of 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE      35 

policies,  the  initiation  of  new  projects,  and  for  the  detailed  dis- 
cussion of  the  seventy  odd  major  research  undertakings  which  < 
had  been  initiated  in  large  part  at  least  by  the  Division  and 
which  its  members  were  either  directing  or  closely  following. 
The  opportunity  both  to  initiate  problems  and  to  follow  those 
initiated  elsewhere,  particularly  abroad,  came  about  chiefly 
through  the  most  successful  functioning  of  the  second  agency 
mentioned  above,  the  Research  Information  Service. 

This  service  had  its  inception  in  the  Spring  of  1917  when 
certain  British  scientists  in  the  British  ministry  of  munitions 
addressed  a  letter  to  General  Geo.  O.  Squier  suggesting  the 
development  of  a  liaison  between  British  and  American  scien- 
tists. This  letter  was  referred  by  General  Squier  to  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Division  of  Physical  Sciences  of  the  National  Re- 
search Council  who  laid  the  matter  before  the  Military  Commit- 
tee of  the  Council,  which  committee  embraced  the  heads  of 
the  technical  bureaus  of  the  navy  and  army,  namely,  Admirals 
Benson,  Griffin,  Taylor  and  Earle,  and  Generals  Squier,  Black, 
Crozier  and  Gorgas,  in  addition  to  the  heads  of  civilian  tech- 
nical bureaus  like  Doctors  Marvin  and  Stratton  of  the  Bureau 
of  Mines  and  the  Bureau  of  Standards.  This  body  discussed 
the  proposal  at  some  length  and  concluded  that  an  even  more 
comprehensive  plan  for  bringing  about  cooperation  and  prevent- 
ing duplication  was  needed.  It  accordingly  appointed  a  commit- 
tee consisting  of  Dr.  Walcott,  Mr.  Howard  Coffin,  Dr.  Stratton 
and  Mr.  Millikan  to  formulate  recommendations.  The  commit- 
tee formulated  a  plan  which  was  approved  by  the  Military 
Committee  and  then  by  the  Secretaries  of  War  and  of  the 
Navy  and  finally  by  the  President,  who  appropriated  $150,000 
from  his  war  emergency  fund  for  carrying  the  plan  into  effect. 

This  plan  provided  for  the  establishment  of  four  new  offices, 
one  in  Washington,  one  in  London,  one  in  Paris  and  one  in  • 
Rome.  The  office  in  Washington  was  headed  by  a  group  of 
three  men :  the  chief  of  the  Army  Intelligence  Service,  the  chief 
of  the  Navy  Intelligence  Service,  and  the  chairman  of  the  Na- 
tional Research  Council;  the  group  in  London,  by  the  naval 


36  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

attache,  (Admiral  Sims  himself)  chosen  by  the  National  Re- 
search Council.  The  function  of  the  scientific  attache  in  Eng- 
land, who  was  Dr.  H.  A.  Bumstead,  was  to  keep  in  touch  with 
all  research  activity  in  that  country  and  to  send  back  almost 
daily  reports  to  our  office  in  Washington.  Similarly,  all  re- 
ports of  work  done  on  this  side  were  sent  by  uncensored  mail 
or  by  cable  to  the  offices  of  the  scientific  attaches  in  London, 
Paris  and  Rome,  and  distributed  from  there  to  the  research 
groups  in  Europe.  The  navy  cooperated  heartily  with  this 
plan  from  the  start,  and  Admiral  Sims  aided  it  in  every  possible 
way.  As  for  the  army,  at  the  request  of  the  General  Staff, 
the  Secretary  of  War  issued  orders  to  all  army  officers  who 
were  sent  on  scientific  and  technical  missions  to  make  duplicate 
reports,  one  to  the  officer  who  sent  them  and  the  other  to  the 
office  of  the  scientific  attache,  so  that  there  might  be  a  central 
agency  through  which  an  interconnection  might  be  had  between 
all  kinds  of  new  developments.  The  actual  functioning  of  the 
Research  Information  Service  had  most  to  do  with  develop- 
ments in  the  Physical  Sciences. 

Furthermore,  through  the  authority  conferred  by  the  Mili- 
tary Committee,  there  was  held  in  Washington  at  the  offices 
of  the  National  Research  Council  a  weekly  conference  of  the 
Division  of  Physical  Sciences  and  of  Engineering,  which  re- 
viewed all  the  reports  from  abroad  each  week  and  put  the 
workers  on  this  side  into  the  closest  touch  with  the  develop- 
ments on  the  other  side.  The  whole  plan  was  an  admirable 
illustration  of  the  possibilities  of  international  cooperation  in 
research.  In  the  submarine  field,  for  example,  all  anti-sub- 
marine work  in  England,  France  and  Italy  which  was  reported 
by  cable  and  by  uncensored  mail  immediately  to  the  office  of 
the  Research  Council  in  Washington,  was  taken  each  Saturday 
night  to  New  London  and  presented  in  digested  form  to  the 
group  of  scientists  which  was  working  there  continuously  on 
submarine  problems.  Similar  arrangements  were  made  with 
the  airplane  research  groups,  sound-ranging  groups,  etc.,  so 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE      37 

that  in  the  Research  Information  Service  we  had  the  first 
demonstration  in  history  of  the  possibilities  of  international  co- 
operation in  research  on  a  huge  scale,  a  sort  of  cooperation 
which  made  it  possible  for  any  development,  or  any  idea  which 
originated  in  any  of  the  chief  civilized  countries  of  the  world 
to  go  at  once,  very  frequently  by  cable,  to  all  the  other  coun- 
tries and  to  be  applied  there  as  soon  as  possible,  or  to  stimulate 
carefully  selected  groups  of  competent  technical  men  in  these 
countries  to  further  developments.  The  extraordinary  rapidity 
with  which  scientific  developments  were  made  in  the  war  was 
unquestionably  due  first,  to  the  forming  of  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  highly  competent  research  groups,  and  second,  to  the 
establishment  of  effective  channels  for  the  cooperation^  iietween 
these  groups. 

So  much  for  the  machinery  by  which  the  work  in  the  Physical 
Sciences  was  stimulated  and  coordinated.  As  for  the  problems 
themselves  it  is  only  possible  to  sketch  briefly  the  history  of  a 
few  of  the  most  important.  Of  them  all  the  submarine  prob- 
lem stood  out  from  the  beginning  of  the  war  as  of  paramount 
importance.  Effective  attack  upon  it  in  this  country  started 
with  the  visit  of  the  scientific  mission  which  was  sent  to  the 
United  States  in  May,  1917,  with  definite  official  instructions 
from  the  French,  British  and  Italian  governments  to  hold 
back  nothing,  but  to  lay  all  the  facts  and  plans  of  the  Allies 
relating  to  scientific  developments  in  aid  of  the  war  before 
properly  accredited  scientific  men  in  the  United  States.  The 
National  Research  Council,  which  acted  as  the  host  of  this 
mission  in  the  United  States  (for  the  mission  had  been  sent 
here  in  return  for  a  similar  mission  organized  and  sent  abroad 
by  the  National  Research  Council  in  March,  1917)  with  au- 
thority conferred  upon  it  by  the  War  and  Navy  Departments, 
called  a  conference  in  Washington  of  some  of  the  best  scientific 
brains  in  the  United  States  and  for  a  period  of  a  full  week  this 
conference  met  and  discussed  in  detail  the  progress  thus  far 
made  and  the  plans  projected  in  the  fields  of  submarine  detec- 


38  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

tion,  of  location  of  guns,  airplanes  and  mines  by  sound,  of 
ordnance,  of  signaling  and  of  aviation  instruments  and  acces- 
sories. 

As  a  result  of  these  conferences  there  were  organized  through 
the  cooperative  effort  of  the  National  Research  Council  and 
several  of  the  bureaus  of  the  army  and  navy,  a  considerable 
number  of  groups  of  scientific  men,  each  of  which  was  charged 
with  the  development  of  some  particular  field.  For  example, 
Professor  -Trowbridge,  of  Princeton,  and  Professor  Lyn-an,  of 
Harvard,  were  selected  and  placed  in  charge  of  the  develop- 
ment in  this  country  of  the  sound-ranging  service.  They  and 
the  group  of  scientific  men  whom  they  associated  with  them 
were  first  given  commissions  in  the  Signal  Corps,  and  with 
Signal  Corps  authority  and  funds  started  development  work 
in  sound-ranging  at  Princeton  University  and  at  the  Bureau 
of  Standards.  This  whole  group  was  later  transferred  to  the 
authority  of  the  Engineer  Corps,  but  its  directing  personnel 
remained  in  the  main  unchanged  and  it  did  extraordinary  work 
in  the  whole  of  the  fighting  of  the  summer  of  1918,  locating 
hundreds  of  guns  by  computing  the  center  of  the  sound  wave 
from  observations  made  on  the  times  of  arrival  of  the  wave 
at  from  three  to  seven  suitably  placed  stations.  This  method 
had  never  been  used  in  any  preceding  war  and  it  proved  ex- 
traordinarily accurate,  a  gun  being  located  five  miles  away 
with  an  error  of  less  than  fifty  feet. 

Again  it  is  not  an  over-statement  to  say  that  the  most  ef- 
fective part  of  the  anti-submarine  work  done  in  the  United 
States  grew  directly  out  of  that  conference,  and  it  grew  out 
of  it  in  this  way.  As  Lord  Northcliffe  continually  reiterated 
on  his  trip  to  the  United  States  in  the  spring  of  1917,  the  sub- 
marine problem  was  at  that  time  the  problem  of  the  war,  for 
while  Europe  might  fight  with  little  to  eat,  it  could  not  fight 
without  iron  and  oil  and  other  supplies  which  this  country 
alone  could  furnish,  and  in  the  spring  of  1917  civilization 
trembled  in  the  balance,  because  the  submarine  was  seriously 
threatening  to  destroy  all  possibilities  of  transportation  trom 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE      39 

this  country  to  Europe.  The  English  scientists  therefore,  irf 
particular,  came  to  this  country  directed  by  their  government 
to  lay  before  the  American  scientists  every  element  of  the  for- 
eign anti-submarine  program,  whether  already  accomplished 
or  merely  projected,  and  in  the  conference  under  consideration 
a  large  part  of  the  discussion  centered  around  the  submarine 
problem,  which,  as  Sir  Ernest  Rutherford  repeatedly  pointed 
out,  was  a  problem  of  physics  pure  and  simple.  It  was  not 
even  a  problem  of  engineering  at  that  time,  although  every 
physical  problem,  in  general,  sooner  or  later  becomes  one  for 
the  engineer,  when  the  physicist  has  gone  far  enough  along 
with  his  work.  Hence,  since  the  number  of  physicists  was 
quite  limited,  the  number  of  men  who  had  any  large  capacity  for 
handling  the  problem  of  anti-submarine  experimentation  was 
small.  These  men  were  found  mostly  in  university  laboratories 
or  in  a  very  few  industrial  laboratories  which  employed  physi- 
cists, and  we  unquestionably  had  gathered  a  very  representa- 
tive group  of  them  together  in  the  fifty  men  assembled  in  the 
conference  at  Washington.  The  success  or  failure  of  our 
anti-submarine  campaign,  and  with  it  the  success  or  failure 
of  the  war,  so  far  as  we  were  concerned,  seemed  to  depend  upon 
selecting  and  putting  upon  this  job  a  few  men  of  suitable  train- 
ing and  capacity. 

At  the  close  of  that  conference  a  small  committee  was  ap- 
pointed to  select  ten  men  to  give  up  their  work  and  to  go  to 
New  London  to  work  there  night  and  day  in  the  development 
of  anti-submarine  devices.  The  men  chosen  were  Merritt  of 
Cornell,  Mason  of  Wisconsin,  H.  A.  Wilson  of  Rice  Institute, 
Pierce  and  Bridgman  of  Harvard,  Bumstead,  Nichols  and 
Zeleny  of  Yale,  and  Michelson  of  Chicago,  although  Professor 
Michelson  was  almost  immediately  taken  off  for  other  work 
of  much  urgency  and  Chicago  was  represented  in  a  fashion 
by  the  writer  who  was  there  a  portion  of  each  week.  This 
group  worked  under  the  authorization  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  and  with  the  heartiest  of  cooperation  from  the  Navy  De- 
partment, although  it  was  at  first  financed  by  private  funds  ob- 


40  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

tained  by  the  National  Research  Council.  In  the  course  of  a 
few  months,  however,  when  it  had  demonstrated  its  effective- 
ness it  was  taken  over  by  the  Navy,  which  spent  more  than  one 
million  dollars  on  the  experimental  work  at  that  place.  This 
station  with  its  chief  scientific  personnel  not  largely  changed 
became  the  center  of  our  anti-submarine  activity,  and  with  other 
stations,  one  at  Nahant,  Mass.,  embracing  chiefly  the  physicists 
of  the  General  Electric  Company,  the  Western  Electric  Com- 
pany and  the  Submarine  Signaling  Company,  one  in  New  York 
presided  over  by  Dr.  Pupin,  of  Columbia,  and  one  in  San  Pedro, 
Calif.,  which,  like  the  New  York  station,  was  organized  under 
the  Research  Council,  made  remarkable  progress  in  the  rapid 
development  of  anti-submarine  devices  —  devices  which  ex- 
erted a  notable  influence  upon  the  reduction  of  submarine 
depredations,  and  made  it  possible  even  by  the  fall  of  1917, 
to  predict  that  the  submarine  menace  could  be  eliminated. 

Unquestionably  the  most  effective  device  developed  in 
America,  and  one  which  played  a  real  role  in  the  elimination 
of  that  menace,  was  one  which  had  the  following  origin.  The 
French  had  already  developed  an  apparatus  consisting  of  a 
sort  of  great  sound  lens  which  brought  the  incoming  pulses 
together  in.  the  same  phase  at  the  center  of  the  lens  near  the 
bottom  of  the  hull.  This  was  presented  and  discussed  at  length 
in  the  conference.  A  full  official  report  of  the  device  was  sent 
by  the  French  government  to  the  Anti-submarine  Board  of 
the  Navy,  and  at  a  meeting  of  that  board  the  writer  requested 
to  be  allowed  to  take  this  report  to  the  group  of  scientists  at 
New  London  for  the  sake  of  a  thorough  analysis  of  it,  for  he 
felt  confident,  and  so  stated  at  the  time,  that  through  such  an 
analysis  we  would  obtain  variants  of  the  device  which  would  be 
an  improvement  upon  it.  This  procedure  was  followed  and 
for  two  days  ten  men  assembled  at  a  hotel  in  New  London 
and  studied  that  report,  drawing  up  four  or  five  different  vari- 
ants of  this  device- to  develop  and  try  out.  .The  most  success- 
ful and  effective  detector  which  actually  got  into  use  in  the 
war  was  one  of  these  variants  of  the  original  French  device 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE      41 

suggested  and  largely  developed  by  Mason.  It  consisted  of 
a  row  of  from  thirty  to  sixty  sound  receivers  strung  along 
in  two  rows  one  on  either  side  of  the  keel  of  the  ship,  well  for- 
ward ;  the  sound  pulses  coming  in  to  all  of  the  receivers  on  one 
side  were  arranged  to  travel  in  tubes  of  just  such  length  as  to 
cause  them  all  to  unite  in  the  same  phase  at  the  mouth  of  a 
tube  leading  to  one  ear  of  the  observer,  while  all  the  sound 
pulses  received  by  the  other  row  are  brought  together  in  a 
similar  way  at  the  other  ear.  By  now  using  the  binaural  sense 
to  equate  exactly  the  sound  paths  to  the  two  ears,  it  is  possible 
to  locate  the  direction  of  the  source  of  sound  to  within  one  or 
two  degrees.  This  instrument  could  pick  up  submarines  from 
one  to  ten  miles  away  depending  upon  their  speed  and  the 
weather  conditions.  A  variant  of  the  multiple  receiver  de- 
vice, using  microphones  and  electrical  compensators  to  equate 
phases  in  place  of  ordinary  sound  receivers  and  sound  compen- 
sators, was  even  more  effective.  Many  of  our  submarines 
and  destroyers  which  went  across  during  the  summer  of  1918 
were  equipped  with  the  acoustical  form  of  this  device,  and 
now  the  electrical  form  is  being  still  further  developed  for 
peace  use,  rather  than  for  war,  for  it  is  possible  through  it  to 
eliminate  the  chief  terror  of  the  sea,  namely,  collision  in  fog. 
And,  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  preventing  of  a  single  dis- 
aster like  the  sinking  of  the  Tltantic  or  of  the  Empress  of  Ire- 
land more  than  pays,  without  any  reference  to  the  value  of  hu- 
man lives,  for  all  the  time  and  money  spent  by  England,  France 
and  the  United  States  combined  in  developing  detecting  devices, 
it  will  be  seen  how  shortsighted  a  thing  it  is  for  any  country 
to  fail  to  find  in  some  way  the  funds  necessary  for  carrying  on 
research  and  development  work  in  underwater  detection.  For 
decades  and  for  centuries  we  have  allowed  ships  to  go  down 
year  by  year  needlessly,  simply  because  we  have  not  realized 
the  possibilities  of  prevention  through  properly  organized  scien- 
tific research  in  this  field. 

Another  device  capable  of  detecting  a  lurking  submarine  half 
a  mile  or  more  away  by  the  use  of  a  beam  of  sound  waves  of 


42  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

very  high  frequency  was  perfected  too  late  to  be  of  use,  but  it 
represents  a  war  development  of  extraordinary  interest.  The 
credit  for  it  is  due  primarily  to  Dr.  Langevin  of  Paris,  though 
the  New  York  and  San  Pedro  groups  of  American  physicists 
did  excellent  work  in  the  same  direction  following  Langevin's 
lead.  Other  anti-submarine  devices  in  considerable  number 
were  developed  and  effectively  used,  but  these  two  are  in  most 
respects  the  most  notable. 

But  it  has  not  merely  been  in  sound-ranging  and  in  submarine 
detection  that  the  war  has  demonstrated  the  capabilities  of 
science.  Every  single  phase  of  our  war  activities  has  told  the 
same  story.  Turn,  for  example,  to  the  development  of  new 
scientific  devices  for  use  with  aircraft.  How  was  that 
handled?  The  Science  and  Research  Division  of  the  Signal 
Corps,  organized  through  the  cooperation  of  the  Signal  Corps 
and  the  National  Research  Council,  and  later  transferred  to 
the  Bureau  of  Aircraft  Production,  had  a  group  of  as  many  as 
fifty  highly  trained  men,  physicists  and  engineers,  who  were 
working  in  Washington  and  in  the  experimental  station  at 
Langley  Field,  twelve  hours  a  day,  seven  days  a  week,  on 
aviation  problems  —  one  group  on  improvements  in  accurate 
bomb  dropping,  another  on  improvements  in  airplane 
photography,  another  on  the  mapping  of  the  highways  of  the 
upper  air  in  aid  of  aviation,  another  upon  balloon  problems, 
such  as  the  development  of  non-inflammable  balloons,  another 
on  aviation  instruments,  compasses,  speed  meters,  etc.,  and 
producing  the  best  there  are  in  the  world,  and  finally  a  group 
on  new  sensitizing  dyes  for  long  wave-length  photography,  etc. 
Let  me  select  for  special  comment  the  most  important  physical 
principles  which  have  just  now  for  the  first  time  found  large 
and  effective  application  in  war.  I  shall  classify  these  under 
six  heads. 

The  first  two  of  these  are  (i)  the  principle  of  binaural  audi- 
tion and  (2)  the  principle  of  sound-ranging  (locating  the  posi- 
•tion  of  a  gun  by  plotting  the  sound  wave  emanating  from  it). 
These  two  share  the  honor  of  having  proved  themselves  the 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE      43 

most  useful  and  effective  of  the  new  applications  of  physics 
to  the  purposes  of  war.  The  second  was  responsible  for  the 
location  and  destruction  of  thousands  of  enemy  guns,  while 
the  first  was  responsible  for  the  location  and  destruction  of 
submarines,  airplanes  and  mines. 

The  binaural  principle  itself  was  unknown  even  to  most 
physicists  before  the  war,  though  it  is  used  by  all  of  us  when 
we  turn  our  heads  until  we  think  we  are  looking  in  the  direction 
from  which  a  sound  comes.  The  accuracy  with  which  this  can 
be  done  in  the  absence  of  disturbing  reflections  is  surprising. 
When  the  observer  has  set  his  head  so  that  the  sound  pulses 
from  the  source  strike  the  two  ears  at  exactly  the  same  time 
he  has  the  sense  that  the  source  lies  in  the  median  plane  be- 
tween the  two  ears.  If  the  sound  pulses  strike  one  ear  first, 
the  observer  has  the  sense  that  the  source  is  on  the  side  of  the 
ear  which  is  struck  first.  This  sense  is  not  due  in  any  ap- 
preciable degree  to  intensity  differences  produced  by  shadow 
effects  of  the  head.  It  has  to  do  practically  entirely  with  phase 
differences.  The  principle  is  beautifully  illustrated  by  insert- 
ing into  each  ear  one  end  of  a  piece  of  rubber  tubing  four  or 
five  feet  long  and  scratching  or  tapping  on  the  wall  of  the 
tubing,  first  at  a  point  slightly  closer  to  one  ear  than  the  other 
and  then  moving  the  tapping  object  slowly  through  the  mid- 
point to  a  position  nearer  the  second  ear.  The  sound  of  the 
scratching  or  tapping  will  then  appear  to  the  observer  to  be  in 
the  ear  which  is  nearest  to  it  and  then  to  move  around  the 
head  to  the  other  ear  as  the  mid-point  is  crossed,  With  the 
unaided  ear  one  can  locate  direction  in  this  way  to  within  five 
or  ten  degrees.  The  simplest  way  to  increase  the  sensibility  of 
the  method  to  faint  sounds  is  to  increase  the  size  of  the  ears 
by  providing  them  with  trumpet-like  extensions.  To  increase 
the  accuracy  of  location  one  stretches  out  the  receiving  ends 
until  the  distance  between  them  is  say,  five  or  six  feet  instead 
of  five  or  six  inches,  as  it  is  in  the  case  of  the  unaided  ear. 
It  is  then  only  necessary  to  turn  the  whole  receiving  system 
through  about  one-twelfth  the  former  angle  to  obtain  the  same 


44  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

phase  difference.  The  angular  accuracy  of  setting  is  thus  in- 
creased twelve  fold. 

Two  methods  of  applying  the  principle  were  used  in  the 
war.  The  one  consisted  in  rotating  the  whole  receiving  system, 
one  side  of  which  was  connected  with  a  rubber  tube  to  one  ear, 
the  other  side  in  the  same  way  to  the  other  ear,  until  the  ob- 
server had  the  sensation  of  feeling  the  sound  pass  from  one 
ear  to  the  other.  At  this  instant  he  knew  that  the  source  was 
directly  ahead  of  the  line  connecting  the  two  receivers,  or  else 
directly  behind  this  line,  the  distinction  between  the  two  posi- 
tions being  obtainable  from  the  relation  between  the  direction 
of  the  motion  of  the  head  and  the  direction  in  which  the  sound 
seemed  to  pass  from  one  ear  to  the  other.  The  second  method, 
the  one  used  with  the  submarine  detector  discussed  above,  con- 
sisted in  keeping  the  receiving  system  fixed  in  space  and  chang- 
ing the  length  of  the  sound  path  from  each  receiver  to  the  ear 
by  means  of  a  so-called  rotating  commutator  until  the  sound 
seemed  to  be  passing  from  one  ear  to  the  other.  The  reading 
of  the  dial  on  the  compensator  then  gave  the  direction  of  the 
source. 

This  principle  proved  so  effective  in  locating  enemy  mining 
and  tunneling  operations  that  according  to  official  despatches 
received  by  the  Research  Information  Service  both  sides  gave 
up  such  operations  practically  entirely  a  year  or  more  before 
the  close  of  the  war.  It  was  equally  effective  in  anti-submarine 
warfare,  a  very  simple  form  of  binaural  detector  having  been 
put  out  in  large  numbers  by  the  General  Electric  Company, 
in  addition  to  the  more  elaborate  and  more  effective  devices 
heretofore  considered.  The  principle  was  less  effective  in  its 
application  to  anti-aircraft  work  though  even  here  it  served 
a  very  useful  purpose. 

The  third  physical  principle  which  was  of  immense  use  in 
the  war  was  the  principle  of  amplification.  This  extraordinary 
application  of  scientific  investigations  of  the  past  two  decades 
in  the  field  of  electron  discharges  had  been  reduced  to  practice 
in  the  telephone  industry  in  1914  when  transcontinental  wire 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE      45 

telephony  became  for  the  first  time  possible  through  the  de- 
velopment of  the  De  Forest  audion  into  a  telephone  repeater 
and  amplifier  —  an  advance  which  not  only  extended  enorm- 
ously the  possibilities  of  communication,  but  saved  at  once 
millions  of  dollars  even  in  the  construction  of  short  telephone 
lines.  With  six  stage  amplifiers  of  this  electronic  sort  the 
energy  of  speech  has  been  multiplied  without  distortion  as  much 
as  ten  thousand  billion  fold.  Small  wonder  then  that  by  1915 
enormously  amplified  wave  forms  produced  by  speech  had  been 
impressed  on  the  ether  from  the  Arlington  Towers  with  such 
energy  as  to  be  picked  up  and  distinctly  understood  in  Paris 
and  Honolulu.  But  in  spite  of  the  success  already  attained  in 
this  field  by  the  physicists  of  the  telephone  company,  when  the 
United  States  entered  the  war  the  principle  of  amplification 
had  not  been  successfully  applied  either  to  inter-communica- 
tion by  wireless  phone  between  ships  (for  example,  submarine 
chasers)  or  between  airplanes,  and  one  of  the  most  pressing 
problems  which  General  Squier  put  up  in  April,  1917,  to  the 
Division  of  Physical  Sciences  of  the  Research  Council  wa<=  the 
problem  of  wireless  communication  between  planes.  This  was 
solved  by  the  mid-summer  of  1917  by  the  group  of  physicists 
of  the  Western  Electric  Company  to  whom  it  was  referred 
and,  on  Sunday  following  Thanksgiving  1917,  for  the  first 
time  in  history,  airplanes  in  flight  were  directed  in  official  tests 
at  the  Wright  field  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  intricate  maneuvers, 
from  the  ground  or  by  the  commander  in  the  leading  airplane, 
and  reports  and  directions  were  given  and  received  in  clear 
speech.  For  wire  and  wireless  telephone  receiving,  sending  and 
amplifying  on  sea  and  land  three-quarters  of  a  million  vacuum 
tubes  were  built  by  the  Western  Electric  Company  alone  for 
the  purposes  of  the  war,  and  half  as  many  more  by  the  General 
Electric  Company,  so  that  the  amplifying  principle  was  of 
scarcely  less  importance  in  the  successful  conclusion  of  the 
war  than  were  the  principles  of  binaural  location  and  sound- 
ranging. 
The  fourth  tremendously  important  and  altogether  new  ap- 


46  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

plication  of  the  principles  of  physics  to  warfare  was  made  in 
the  field  of  airplane  photography.     In  this  field  as  in  those  of 

.,  submarine  detection  and  sound-ranging,  though  not  in  that 
of  amplification,  we  followed  the  developments  of  the  British 
and  the  French,  though  contributing  important  elements  our- 
selves. The  war  could  scarcely  have  been  fought  at  all  with- 
out the  airplane  photographer  who  was  the  very  eyes  of  the 
army.  American  developments  in  this  field  were  organized 
by  the  Science  and  Research  Division  of  the  Signal  Corps  which 
in  the  summer  of  1917  assembled  a  group  of  physicists  and 
photographic  experts  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  H.  E.  Ives. 
This  group  in  closest  cooperation  with  the  Eastman  Kodak 
Company  of  Rochester  and  the  Burke  and  James  Company  of 
Chicago  developed  what  are  probably  the  finest  airplane  cameras 
in  existence.  In  addition  it  developed  color  filters  for  detect- 
ing camouflage  and  increasing  visibility  of  such  value  that  forty 
thousand  of  them  were  used  in  the  army  and  navy.  It  pro- 
duced new  dyes  for  use  in  the  production  of  pan-chromatic 
plates  designed  to  be  used  for  the  penetration  of  haze  in  air- 
plane photography  and  made  other  advances  in  this  important 
art  which  bid  fair  to  revolutionize  the  whole  process  of  sur- 
veying, since  an  airplane  photograph  taken  in  a  few  seconds 
can  give  information  which  it  used  to*  take  months  to  acquire 
by  laborious  triangulation  methods. 

The  fifth*  great  new.  application  of  physics  to  warfare  lay 
in  the  developments  in  meteorology  and  in  the  principles  of 
ballooning.  The  realization  of  the  possibility  of  non-inflam- 
mable helium  balloons  and  the  actual  production  of  small 
propaganda  balloons  which  dropped  their  loads  a  thousand 
miles,  from  the  starting  point  are  among  the  most  spectacular 
and  interesting  scientific  developments  of  the  war,  but  neither 
of  them  played  any  actual  part  in  achieving  the  victory.  Of 

^'untold  importance,  however,  was  the  careful  though  unspec- 
tacular work  of  the  meteorological  section  of  the  Science  and 
Research  Division  of  the  Signal  Corps  which  by  thousands 
of  pilot  balloon  flights  accumulated  the  data  that  not  only  aided 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE      47 

the  flyer  in  his  work  at  the  front,  but  made  possible  the  so- 
called  ballistic  wind  corrections  upon  which  the  effectiveness 
of  both  the  artillery  and  the  sound-ranging  services  largely  de- 
pended. When  it  is  remembered  that  the  biggest  element  in 
the  effectiveness  of  a  modern  army  is  its  artillery  and  that  the 
effectiveness  of  the  artillery  is  dependent  entirely  upon  these 
wind  corrections  it  will  be  seen  how  incalculably  valuable  the 
work  of  the  trained  physicists  and  mathematicians  proved  to 
be  to  the  practical  problems  of  the  great  war. 

The  sixth  and  last  of  the  new  applications  of  physics  to  the 
purposes  of  the  war  has  to  do  with  the  principle  of  signaling 
by  visible  light  rays,  by  infra-red  rays,  by  ultra-violet  rays  and 
by  super-sound  rays.  In  all  of  these  fields  there  were  develop- 
ments of  great  interest  and  of  much  importance  for  the  future, 
though  none  of  them  contributed  largely  to  the  victory  of  the 
Allies.  In  bombardments  all  the  wire  and  wireless  methods  of 
communication  often  failed  and  light  signals  of  some  sort  were 
the  only  reliance.  Special  signaling  lamps  were  developed  by 
the  Science  and  Research  Division  of  the  Signal  Corps  and 
ordered  in  considerable  numbers.  A  notable  system  of  secret 
signaling  with  infra-red  rays  was  developed  by  Theodore  Case 
of  Auburn,  N.  Y.,  and  successfully  used  in  keeping  convoys 
together  at  night  when  lights  could  not  be  used.  The  possi- 
bility of  having  secret  ultra-violet  methods  of  guiding  aviators 
at  night  back  to  their  landing  fields  was  demonstrated  by  R. 
W.  Wood.  As  already  indicated  super-sound  signaling  under 
water  was  successfully  accomplished  by  Dr.  Langevin  and  ap- 
plied experimentally  in  submarine  detection. 

Outside  the  lines  of  the  foregoing  classification  there  were 
some  developments  in  Physics  which  deserve  mention.  Thus 
a  leak  proof  gasolene  tank  for  airplanes,  developed  by  Dr. 
Gordon  S.  Fulcher  in  collaboration  with  the  Miller  Rubber 
Company  of  Akron,  Ohio,  which  could  be  shot  through  by 
scores  of  bullets  without  leaking  a  drop  of  gasolene  or  catching 
fire  even  when  the  bullets  were  incendiary,  had  at  the  close  of 
the  war  been  ordered  placed  on  all  American  combat  planes. 


48  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

It  promised  to  do  away  with  the  chief  terror  of  the  American 
flyer,  namely,  coming  down  in  flames.  An  airplane  compass 
and  a  speedmeter  developed  by  Major  Mendenhall  and  Lieut. 
Williamson,  in  cooperation  with  the  General  Electric  Company 
were  used  on  all  American  planes.  Dr.  Duff,  Captain  Web- 
ster, Captain  Sieg  and  Captain  Brown  increased  notably  the 
accuracy  in  bombing,  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance  since 
doubling  the  accuracy  in  dropping  bombs  is  more  than  equiva- 
lent to  doubling  the  production  of  bombing  planes.  Under  the 
stimulus  of  the  war  Dr.  Coolidge  developed  a  new  and  improved 
x-ray  tube  for  use  in  field  hospitals.  Dr.  E.  F.  Nichols  de- 
veloped a  new  type  of  mine,  which  was  used  in  mining  opera- 
tions in  the  North  Sea.  Prof.  A.  A.  Michelson  developed  a 
new  and  improved  range  finder,  which  was  accepted  by  the 
Navy  Department.  Prof.  Raymond  Dodge  developed  a  new 
piece  of  physical  apparatus  for  the  selection  and  training  of 
gunners.  This  instrument  was  adopted  and  used  both  by  the 
American  and  foreign  navies.  Optical  glass  was  produced  in 
large  quantities  for  the  first  time  in  the  United  States  under 
the  guidance  of  a  committee  of  the  Physical  Science  Division  of 
the  Research  Council,  consisting  of  Drs.  A.  L.  Day,  S.  W. 
Stratton  and  R.  A.  Millikan. 

This  is  but  an  incomplete  sketch  of  what  look  now  like  the 
most  important  developments  in  Physics  which  were  stimulated 
by  the  war.  Scores  of  other  problems  were  undertaken  the 
results  of  which  may  in  the  end  be  as  useful  both  for  the  pur- 
poses of  war  >and  for  those  of  peace  as  any  of  those  herein  set 
forth. 


IV 

SOME   SCIENTIFIC  ASPECTS   OF   THE   METEORO- 
LOGICAL WORK  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES  ARMY  l 

ROBERT  A.  MILLIKAN 

THERE  is  no  more  interesting  illustration  of  the  applica- 
tion of  new  scientific  methods  to  warfare  than  is  fur- 
nished by  the  developments  in  meteorology  during  the  great 
war.  Prior  to  1914  a  meteorological  section  was  not  con- 
sidered a  necessary  part  of  the  military  service.  No  correc- 
tions had  ever  been  made  by  the  artillery  of  any  army  for  any 
save  surface  winds.  Firing  by  the  map  was  almost  unknown. 
No  Sound-ranging  Service,  no  Air  Service  and  no  Anti- 
aircraft artillery  had  ever  existed  to  demand  aerological  data. 

At  the  time  of  the  signing  of  the  armistice  on  the  western 
front  the  Air  Service  and  all  the  artillery  were  being  furnished 
every  two  hours  with  the  temperature,  density,  wind-speed  and 
direction,  taken  at  the  surface  and  at  various  altitudes,  from 
100  to  500  meters  apart,  up  to  5,000  meters.  Further,  tables 
were  prepared  from  which  each  battery  could  obtain  the  cor- 
rection suited  to  its  trajectory  for  the  so-called  ballistic  wind. 
This  is  the  average  wind  for  the  trajectory,  weighted  for  the  , 
density  of  the  air  at  the  elevations  traversed.  Even  machine 
guns  when  used  for  barrage  work  made  use  of  these  ballistic- 
wind  tables. 

In  addition,  daily  forecasts  were  furnished  to  the  armies  in 
accordance  with  the  following  outline : 

1  Reprinted  by  permission,  with  the  omission  of  certain  illustrations, 
from  the  Proceedings  American  Philosophical  Society,  vol.  38,  1919. 

49 


50  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

A.  Character  of  weather  for  each  arm  of  the  service. 

B.  Winds:  Surface,  at  2,000  m.,  at  5,000  m. 

C.  Cloudiness  including  fog  and  haze. 

D.  Height  of  cloud. 

E.  Visibility. 

F.  Rain  and  snow. 
G*.  Temperature. 

H.  Warning  of  weather  conditions  favorable  for  use  of  gas 

by  enemy. 
K.  Probable  accuracy  or  odds  in  favor  of  forecast. 

Most  of  the  aerological  data  were  obtained  from  theodolite 
observations  on  pilot  balloons.  The  extent  to  which  our  knowl- 
edge of  the  upper  air  has  been,  and  is  being,  extended  by  this 
pilot  balloon  work  may  be  seen  from  the  fact  that  before  the 
war  there  existed  but  one  station  in  the  United  States  where 
pilot  balloon  explorations  were  regularly  carried  on.  Within 
a  year  of  the  inception  of  the  meteorological  service  in  the 
United  States  Army,  thirty-seven  complete  stations  for  the  ob- 
taining of  both  surface  and  upper  air  data  in  aid  of  aviation 
and  the  artillery  had  been  established  in  the  United  States  and 
equipped  with  special  aircraft  theodolites  and  pilot  balloons, 
neither  of  which  had  ever  been  produced  before  in  this  coun- 
try. Further,  twenty  such  stations  had  been  established  by 
our  forces  abroad.  For  the  manning  of  this  service,  about 
five  hundred  specially  selected  men  had  been  trained  in  this 
country,  and  three  hundred  and  fourteen  of  them  sent  abroad, 
while  about  two  hundred  were  held  for  work  in  the  United 
States. 

The  scientific  interest  in  this  service  centers  about  four  dis- 
tinct problems : 

1.  The  extension  of  our  knowledge  of  the  law  of  motion  of 
pilot  balloons. 

2.  The  procurement  of  data  and  the  development  of  methods 
for  the  preparation  of  artillery  range  table. 


., . '    .: 


I  h.u,r  *  t ;  r  v  e  1  a ,  N .  Y. 

cr    g,   t     i  8  3  .01       m 


U.  n  c  *•  .>  r  m    Rate   oi 


Courtesy  of  American  Philosophical  Society 

Figure    i.     Uniform   rate  of   ascent   of   pilot  balloon   up  to 
ji,ooo  meters 


,3000 


•Aberdeen  Pro i/. Ing :  Ground,  Met. 

October  -2.!?,  I  o  I  8  1108  o-.rru 


4.        r 
ou  vectlon  C-u-.rv ent 


50  60  70  80 


Courtesy  of  American  Philosophical   Society 

Figure  2.     Pilot  Balloon  ascent  showing  isolated  convection 


current 


METEOROLOGICAL  WORK  51 

3.  The  development  of  long  range  propaganda  balloons. 

4.  The  charting  of  the  upper  air  in  the  United  States  and 
overseas  in  aid  of  aviation. 

i.  The  Extension  of  Our  Knowledge  of  the  Law  of  Motion 
of  Pilot  Balloons. —  Prior  to  the  development  of  the  meteoro- 
logical service  of  the  army  there  had  been  made  in  the  United 
States  perhaps  one  hundred  pilot  balloon  flights  in  which  the 
balloons  had  been  followed  by  the  two-theodolite  method  — 
the  only  method  which  permits  of  real  accuracy  —  and  in  sev- 
eral European  countries  there  had  been  a  somewhat  greater 
number,  but  the  data  were  incomplete  and  fragmentary. 

Within  the  past  year  approximately  five  thousand  such  ob- 
servations have  been  taken  by  the  meteorological  service  of  the 
Signal  Corps.  From  these  observations  the  altitude  of  the  bal- 
loon is  determined  with  great  accuracy  by  triangulation,  the 
base  line  being  usually  a  mile  or  more  in  length.  The  balloon 
is  kept  in  sight  up  to  distances  as  great  as  sixty  miles,  and  up 
to  heights  as  great  as  32,00x3  meters,  or  approximately  twenty 
miles.  P^or  the  practical  uses  of  the  artillery  and  the  air 
service,  observations  need  not  be  carried  higher  than  10,000 
meters  (six  miles),  which  is  the  extreme  height  to  which  air- 
planes have  thus  far  ascended,  or  to  which  projectiles  usually 

go- 
In  view  of  the  number  of  variables  which  enter  into  the  rate 
of  ascent  of  pilot  balloons,  such  as  the  changing  density  and 
the  changing  temperature  of  the  surrounding  air,  the  changing 
size  of  the  balloon  and  consequent  changing  tension  of  the  rub- 
ber envelope,  the  changing  temperature  of  its  interior  because 
of  the  absorption  of  the  sun's  rays,  the  diffusion  of  hydrogen 
through  its  walls,  etc.,  it  is  one  of  the  most  striking  facts  to  be 
found  anywhere  in  the  annals  of  empirical  science  that  these 
balloons  rise  to  great  heights  without  deviating  appreciably  from 
the  simplest  possible  law  of  ascent,  namely  that  of  constant 
speed.  Graph  No.  5  *  shows  a  beautiful  example  of  this  con- 

1  Graphs  i,  2,  3,  and  4  are  omitted  from  this  volume. 


52  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

stancy.  Graph  No.  6  shows  a  kink  at  about  5,500  meters, 
which  is  presumably  due  to  a  descending  current  struck  at  that 
altitude.  Graph  No.  7  is  that  of  a  balloon  followed  to  a  height 
of  20,000  meters  where  it  apparently  developed  a  leak  and 
failed  to  ascend  further.  Graph  No.  8  shows  the  fluctuations 
which  are  often  found  at  low  altitudes,  these  fluctuations  being 
undoubtedly  due  to  ascending  and  descending  currents. 

The  extreme  constancy  in  the  rate  of  ascent,  shown  in  a  great 
majority  of  flights,  although  surprising  enough  is  not  as  in- 
explicable as  it  at  first  appears,  for  since  the  pressure  within 
the  balloon  due  to  the  tension  of  the  rubber  itself  is  only  from 
five  to  eight  centimeters  of  water,  and  since  this  pressure  is  at 
sea  level  less  than  I  per  cent,  of  the  pressure  of  the  atmosphere, 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  balloon  will  expand  practically  freely, 
that  is,  as  though  the  walls  did  not  constrain  it  at  all,  up  to 
heights  of  say  10,000  meters  where  the  pressure  is  about  a  third 
of  an  atmosphere.  This  means  that  the  ascensional  force  must 
be  entirely  independent  of  temperature  and  pressure.1  For 
the  speeds  with  which  these  balloons  ascend,  namely,  about 
three  meters  a  second,  the  resistance  to  motion  must  be  di- 
rectly proportional  to  the  density  of  the  air  and  experiment 
shows  it  to  be  nearly  proportional  to  the  cross  section  of  the 
balloon,  that  is,  to  the  square  of  the  radius.  This  makes  the 
resistance  vary  as  the  cube  root  of  the  density,2  which  means 
that  at  a  height  of  6,000  meters,  where  the  density  is  about  one- 
half,  the  resistance  is  .83,  of  what  it  would  be  at  the  surface. 

1  For  if  /lt  d1,  z;1/>1*1  represent  ascensional  force,  density,  volume, 
pressure  and  temperature  at  the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  f2,  d2,  v^  />2,  t2, 
the  corresponding  quantities  at  any  given  elevation,  then  since  d2/d^= 
/>2f1//>1f2  (i)  and  fi/f^v^d^/v^d^  (2)  there  results  from  a  combination 
of  i  and  2  fi/f^tdJv2d2=p2tl/pJ2XpJJpJf=ii. 

2  For  if  R^  is  the  resistance  at  the  earth's  surface  and  R2  that  at  any 
given  altitude, 


which  is  seen  from  (i)  to  equal 


METEOROLOGICAL  WORK  53 

If,  as  is  approximately  true  for  these  speeds,  the  resistance 
varies  as  the  square  of  the  velocity,  or  the  velocity  as  the  square 
root  of  the  resistance,  this  would  mean  that  the  velocity  should 
vary  as  the  sixth  root  of  the  density.  In  other  words,  since 
the  sixth  root  of  2  is  1.13,  at  a  height  of  6,000  meters,  the 
velocity  should  be  about  13  per  cent,  greater  than  at  the  surface. 
Such  an  increase  in  velocity  would  be  very  easily  observable  in 
the  experimental  data.  The  fact  that  it  is  not  found  there  is 
due  to  the  wholly  fortuitous  circumstance  that  the  slow  dif- 
fusion of  hydrogen  through  the  walls,  as  observation  by  Blair 
and  Sherry  has  shown,  is  just  sufficient,  with  the  balloons  here 
used,  to  retard  the  ascensional  rate  enough  to  make  it  quite  ex- 
actly constant. 

This  makes  it  possible,  provided  one  could  always  duplicate 
the  size  and  weight  of  his  balloon,  to  obtain  a  very  exact  de- 
termination of  wind  velocity  and  direction  by  a  one-theodolite 
method,  the  height  being  always  known  from  the  time  and  the 
known  rate  of  ascent. 

When,  however,  the  weight  and  inflation  of  the  balloons  are 
varied,  as  they  must  be  in  practice,  since  the  balloons  vary  in 
weight  from  twenty  to  thirty-five  grams,  and  since  it  is  con- 
venient also  to  vary  the  filling  according  as  low  altitude  or  high 
altitude  wind-data  are  desired,  it  is  found  that  no  accurate 
formula  can  be  found  for  computing  the  speed  in  terms  of  the 
ascensional  force,  the  weight  to  be  lifted,  and  a  single  invariable 
constant.  For  approximate  work,  however,  the  one-theodolite 
method,  because  of  its  convenience  and  because  of  the  imprac- 
ticability of  measuring  an  accurate  base  line  at  the  front,  is 
much  in  use,  and  one  of  the  advances  made  in  the  meteoro- 
logical work  of  the  army  during  the  past  year  has  consisted  in 
developing  with  the  aid  of  the  large  amount  of  data  available, 
a  general  formula  for  the  rate  of  ascent  in  terms  of  the  ascen- 
sional force  and  the  weight  to  be  lifted,  which  though  far  from 
accurate  is  more  reliable  than  that  which  has  heretofore  been 
used.  The  formula  heretofore  used  is  that  of  Dines,  namely, 


54  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

_     m 

in  which  V  represents  the  rate  of  ascent  in  meters  per  minute, 
/  is  the  free  lift,  or  the  weight  of  the  displaced  air  less  the 
weight  of  the  balloon  and  contained  hydrogen,  L  is  the  weight 
of  the  balloon  plus  the  free  lift  and  K  is  a  constant. 

The  formula  as  modified  by  the  observers  of  the  Signal  Corps 
is 

.208 


This  formula  is  found  to  fit  the  observational  data  within  the 
ranges  used  in  the  Signal  Corps  work  to  an  accuracy  of  some- 
what less  than  10  per  cent.,  which  is  sufficient  for  most  work 
at  the  front. 

2.  Meteorology  in  the  Aid  of  the  Artillery. —  In  former  times 
when  guns  did  not  shoot  to  a  greater  distance  than  eight  or  ten 
miles,  it  was  usually  possible  to  observe  where  the  projectile 
hit  and  to  correct  by  (f  spotting."  This  made  unnecessary  the 
correction  of  the  trajectory  for  the  influence  of  the  wind  and 
the  changing  density  of  the  air  with  increasing  altitude.  In  the 
present  war,  however,  guns  have  been  built  to  shoot  much 
farther  and  in  addition  camouflage  has  prevented  the  visual 
location  of  guns  even  at  the  old  ranges.  Hostile  batteries  have 
been  located  in  many  instances  solely  by  the  new  art  of  sound- 
ranging  which  has  itself  demanded  for  the  high  accuracy  at- 
tained aerological  data.  The  answering  battery  has  been 
obliged  to  fire  wholly  by  the  map,  so  that  it  is  obvious  that  it 
has  become  necessary  to  make  careful  allowances  both  for  the 
density  of  the  air  and  the  direction  and  speed  of  the  wind  at 
various  altitudes.  Some  of  the  modern  projectiles  remain  in 
the  air  as  long  as  seventy  seconds  and  a  moderate  wind  blow- 
ing across  the  path  of  such  a  projectile  might  easily  cause  it  to 
drop  half  a  mile  away  from  the  point  at  which  it  would  strike 
if  fired  in  still  air.  The  wind-direction  and  speed  at  various 
altitudes  have  been  obtained,  as  already  indicated  by  pilot  bal- 


Z.S  50  75  100  US 


Courtesy  of  American  Philosophical  Society 

Figure  3.    Uniform  rate  of  ascent  of  pilot  balloon  up  to  20,000 
meters  where  balloon  sprung  a  leak 


I.  Insist 


it. f  i*Lt  il ,  MY^j 

October'  Zl  ,  l<j  i  $  3  '  0  i   P .  m •  : 


'•    P      .  3       T4"ec"     ^ 

rVonoiirtced    Co'nu:€ctia:n 


Courtesy  of  American  Philosophical  Society 

Figure  4.     Convection  currents  at  low  altitudes 


METEOROLOGICAL  WORK  55 

loons,  while  the  temperature  has  been  determined  at  the  prov- 
ing grounds  by  sending  self-recording  instruments  aloft  in  spe- 
cially constructed  box-kites,  as  well  as  by  sending  self-record- 
ing instruments  and  meteorological  observers  aloft  in  airplanes. 
It  has  been  with  the  aid  of  observations  of  this  sort  that  the 
new  range  tables  for  the  Ordnance  Department  of  the  United 
States  Army  have  been  constructed.  The  importance  of  this 
work  may  be  understood  when  it  is  considered  that  these  range 
tables  will  be  used  in  connection  with  the  firing  of  all  guns,  and 
errors  in  them  would  produce  errors  in  the  range  of  every  gun 
fired  with  their  aid. 

3.  The  Development  of  Long  Range  Propaganda  Balloons. 
—  In  view  of  the  fact  that  above  an  altitude  of  10,000  feet  95 
per  cent,  of  the  winds  both  over  western  Europe  and  over  the 
United  States  blow  from  west  to  east  (i.  e.,  have  a  westerly 
component),  Captain  Sherry  in  1917  suggested  the  development 
of  a  large  program  for  the  extension  of  the  use  of  pilot  bal- 
loons for  the  purpose  of  flooding  the  whole  of  Germany  and 
Austria  with  propaganda  dropped  from  such  balloons.  The 
project  was  submitted  to  the  meteorological  and  military 
agencies  in  France  and  pronounced  infeasible,  chiefly  because 
the  rapid  diffusion  of  hydrogen  through  rubber  had  hereto- 
fore rendered  it  impossible  to  obtain  pilot  balloon  flights  of 
more  than  about  100  miles.  Undiscouraged,  however,  by  these 
reports,  Mr.  W.  J.  Lester,  Dr.  S.  R.  Williams  and  Sergeant 
Redman  attacked  the  problem  of  extending  the  range  of  pilot 
balloon  flights  by  developing  an  automatic  ballast-control  and 
by  reducing  the  diffusion  by  means  of  a  special  dope. 

The  automatic  control  was  ingeniously  simple,  its  essential 
feature  being  a  belly  band  which  kept  the  girth  of  the  balloon 
constant  (at  a  diameter  of  four  feet)  through  the  discharge, 
in  the  act  of  shrinking,  of  a  few  drops  of  kerosene,  thus  causing 
reascension  and  consequent  expansion. 

With  this  device  the  balloon  not  only  does  not  fall  but  rises 
very  gradually  to  higher  and  higher  levels  until  its  ballast  of 
kerosene  or  alcohol  is  exhausted. 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


In  the  week  beginning  October  3,  1918,  sixty  such  balloons, 
adjusted  to  fly  between  the  initial  and  final  altitudes  of  15,000 
and  25,000  feet  respectively  were  sent  up  from  Fort  Omaha, 
Nebraska,  carrying  return  cards  and  watches,  which  were  ar- 
ranged to  stop  and  be  let  down  on  small  parachutes  as  soon 
as  the  ballast  was  exhausted.  Thirty-four  out  of  sixty  of  these 
balloons  were  picked  up  and  returned  to  Washington.  Instead 
of  flying  loo  miles,  one  of  them  came  down  within  ten  miles 

TABLE  1 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  SIGNAL  CORPS,  U.  S.  ARMY,  METEOROLOGICAL 

SERVICE, 

Station  Ellendale,  N.  D.  (90th  Meridian  Time.) 

Wind  Aloft  Report. 
Time  7:00  A.  M.  Date  November  13,  1918. 


Altitude, 
Meters. 

Direction, 
Compass. 

Veloc- 
ity, M. 
P.  H. 

Re- 
marks. 

Altitude, 
Meters. 

Direction, 
Compass. 

Veloc- 
ity, M. 
P.H. 

Re- 
marks. 

0 

sw 

29 

5,250 

NW 

57 

250 

S 

17 

5,500 

NW 

60 

500 

sw 

16 

5,750 

NW 

59 

750 

sw 

15 

6,OOO 

WNW 

63 

1,000 

w 

15 

6,250 

NW 

69 

1,250 

w 

16 

6,500 

NW 

68 

1,500 

WNW 

18 

6,750 

NW 

68 

1,750 

WNW 

19 

7,000 

NW 

74 

2,000 

WNW 

22 

7,250 

NW 

77 

2,250 

WNW 

25 

7,5oo 

NW 

85 

2,500 

WNW 

27 

7,750 

NW 

65 

2,750 

WNW 

34 

8,000 

NW 

73 

3,ooo 

WNW 

35 

8,250 

NW 

76 

3,250 

NW 

35 

8,500 

NW 

69 

3,5oo 

NW 

40 

8,750 

NW 

75 

3,750 

NW 

4i 

9,000 

NW 

73 

4,000 

NW 

41 

9,250 

WNW 

74 

4,250 

NW 

47 

9,500 

WNW 

68 

4.500 

NW 

53 

9,750 

WNW 

65 

4,750 

NW 

56 

10,000 

WNW 

78 

5,ooo 

NW 

54 

10,250 

NW 

81 

METEOROLOGICAL  WORK 


57 


TABLE  2 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,   SIGNAL  CORPS,  U.   S.   ARMY,   METEOROLOGIAL 

SERVICE. 

Station  Groesbeck,   Texas,     (ooth   Meridian  Time.) 

Wind  Aloft  Report. 
Time  7  :oo  A.  M.  Date  November  i,   1918. 


Altitude, 
Meters, 

Direction, 
Compass. 

Veloc- 
ity, M. 
PH. 

Re- 
marks. 

Altitude, 
Meters, 

Direction, 
Compass. 

Veloc- 
ity, M. 
P.H. 

Re- 
marks. 

O 

E 

9 

6,750 

WNW 

25 

250 

ESE 

16 

7,OOO 

WNW 

19 

500 

ESE 

13 

7,250 

w 

8 

750 

ESE 

2 

7,500 

w 

12 

1,000 

WSW 

5 

7,750 

w 

9 

1,250 

WNW 

ii 

8,000 

WSW 

4 

1,500 

WNW 

18 

8,250 

WSW 

16 

1,750 

WNW 

23 

8,500 

WNW 

20 

2,000 

NW 

25 

8,750 

w 

22 

2,250 

NW 

20 

9,000 

WSW 

2O 

2,500 

WNW 

20 

9,250 

WSW 

20 

2,750 

NW 

23 

9,500 

WSW 

22 

3,000 

NNW 

21 

9,750 

WSW 

28 

3,250 

N 

18 

10,000 

w 

39 

3,500 

NNW 

29 

10,250 

w 

47 

3,750 

NW 

25 

10,500 

w 

50 

4,000 

NNW 

20 

10,750 

WNW 

59 

4,250 

NW 

20 

11,000 

WNW 

57 

4,500 

NW 

21 

11,250 

w 

44 

4,750 

NW 

20 

11,500 

w 

39 

5,000 

WNW 

16 

n,75o 

w 

41 

5.250 

WNW 

18 

12,000 

w 

47 

5,500 

WNW 

35 

12,250 

w 

5i 

5,750 

WNW 

35 

12,500 

w 

56 

6,000 

WNW 

32 

12,750 

w 

59 

6,250 

WNW 

25 

13,000 

w 

60 

6,500 

WNW 

26 

13,250 

w 

64 

of  New  York,  1,100  miles  from  Fort  Omaha,  another  was  re- 
turned from  Virginia,  930  miles  from  its  starting  point,  and 
the  rest  were  scattered  over  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Illinois,  Wiscon- 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


sin  and  Iowa.  Not  one  went  west  of  Omaha  though  the  bal- 
loons were  sent  up  on  days  on  which  different  surface  condi- 
tions prevailed. 

The  credit  for  this  achievement,  the  significance  of  which 
will  be  discussed  later,  is  due  primarily  to  Mr.  Lester,  Captain 
Sherry,  Dr.  Williams  and  Sergeant  Redman.  At  the  time  of 
the  signing  of  the  armistice  the  Military  Intelligence  Service 
was  preparing  for  the  extensive  use  of  these  balloons  for  flood- 
ing the  whole  of  Germany,  Austria  and  even  parts  of  Russia 
with  suitable  leaflets,  several  hundred  of  which  could  have  been 
scattered  by  a  single  balloon,  the  total  cost  of  which  would 
have  been  but  two  or  three  dollars. 

4.  The  Charting  of  the  Upper  Air  in  Aid  of  Aviation. —  In  a 
recent  Brisbane  editorial  the  following  sentence  occurs :  "  Fly- 
ing machines  of  the  future  going  long  distances  will  travel  at 
least  32,000  feet  up,  where  no  wind  blows  except  the  gentle 
eastern  wind  caused  by  the  earth's  motion  on  its  axis."  It 
is  quite  likely  that  the  future  aviator  will  fly  high,  but  his  mo- 
tive will  be  to  find  an  air  current,  not  to  escape  one.  The 

TABLE  3 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,  SIGNAL  CORPS,  U.   S.  ARMY,  METEOROLOGIAL 

SERVICE. 

Station  Ellendale,  N.  D.     (poth   Meridian  Time.) 

Wind  Aloft  Report. 
Time  8:26  A.M.  Date  December  5,  1918. 


Altitude, 
Meters, 

Direction, 
Compass. 

Veloc- 
ity, M. 
P.  H. 

Re- 
marks. 

Altitude, 
Meters, 

Direction, 
Compass. 

Veloc- 
ity, M. 
P.H. 

Re- 
marks. 

O 

NW 

19 

1,750 

NW 

64 

250 

NW 

47 

2,OOO 

WNW 

68 

500 

NW 

49 

2,250 

WN!W 

81 

750 

NW 

57 

2,500 

WNW 

87 

1,000 

NW 

48 

2,750 

WNV." 

96 

1,250 

WNW 

49 

3,000 

WNW 

93 

1,500 

WNW 

50 

METEOROLOGICAL  WORK 


59 


TABLE  4 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,   SIGNAL  CORPS,  U.   S.   ARMY,  METEOROLOGIAL 

SERVICE. 

Station  Mineola,  L.  I.     (75th  Meridian  Time.) 

Wind  Aloft  Report. 
Time  7  :o6  A.  M.  Date  September  7,  1918. 


Altitude, 
Meters, 

Direction, 
Compass. 

Veloc- 
ity, M. 
PH. 

Re- 
marks. 

Altitude, 
Meters, 

Direction, 
Compass. 

Veloc 
ity,  M. 
P.  H. 

Re- 
marks. 

0 

N 

18 

2,OOO 

sw 

25 

250 

N 

51 

2,250 

sw 

37 

500 

N 

65 

2,500 

sw 

63 

750 

N 

29 

2,750 

sw 

55 

1,000 

W 

22 

3,000 

sw 

54 

1,250 

w 

2O 

3,250 

sw 

55 

1,500 

W 

II 

3,500 

sw 

81 

1,750 

wsw 

13 

gentleness  of  the  zephyrs  existing  at  high  altitudes  may  be 
seen  from  tables  i,  2,  3,  4  and  5  which  record  three  sets  of 
pilot  balloon  observations  recently  taken  by  the  Signal  Corps. 
These  tables  show  air  currents  increasing  in  intensity  with  in- 
creasing altitude  and  approaching  the  huge  speed  of  100  miles 
per  hour.  Such  speeds  are  perhaps  exceptional,  but  not  at  all 
unknown.  The  pilot  balloon  mentioned  in  3  traveled  from 
Omaha  to  Virginia  at  an  average  speed  of  thirty  miles  per 
hour,  the  average  height  being  18,000  feet.  On  November  6, 
1918,  at  Chattanooga,  Tennessee,  a  velocity  of  154  miles  an 
hour  at  an  altitude  of  28,000  feet  was  observed  by  one  of  the 
meteorological  units  of  the  Signal  Corps. 

These  facts  bring  out  the  importance  of  a  forecast  of  such 
currents  for  the  purposes  of  long  flights.  A  flier  aided  by  such 
a  wind  as  that  last  mentioned  would  move  toward  his  objective 
2  X  154,  or  308  miles  an  hour  more  rapidly  than  if  he  were 
opposed  by  it.  When  it  is  recalled  that  the  aviator  above,  the 
clouds  has  no  means  of  knowing  anything  about  the  motion  of 


6o 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


the  air  in  which  he  flies,  it  will  be  seen  that  it  is  of  the  greatest 
importance  to  him  to  know  the  nature  of  the  currents  at  dif- 
ferent levels.  Table  4  furnishes  a  very  typical  illustration  of 
this  importance.  From  the  above  data  it  is  evident  that  an  avi- 

TABLE  5 

WAR  DEPARTMENT,   SIGNAL   CORPS,   U.   S.   ARMY,   METEOROLOGIAL 

SERVICE. 

Station  Fort  Oglethorpe,  Ga.     (ooth  Meridian  Time.) 

Wind  Aloft  Report. 
Time  7  :3Q  A.  M.  Date  November  29,  1918. 


Altitude, 
Meters, 

Direction, 
Compass. 

Veloc- 
ity, M. 
PH. 

Re- 
marks. 

Altitude, 
Meters, 

Direction, 
Compass. 

Veloc- 
ity, M. 
PH. 

Re- 
marks. 

0 

NW 

7 

1,750 

W 

36 

250 

NW 

8 

2,OOO 

w 

41 

500 

NW 

ii 

2,250 

w 

46 

750 

WNW 

19 

2,500 

wsw 

47 

I,OOO 

W 

29 

2,750 

wsw 

56 

1,250 

w 

34 

3,000 

wsw 

76 

1,500 

W 

36 

3,250 

wsw 

96 

TABLE  6 


Altitude  In 
Meters. 

Surface  

Wind  Direc- 
tion. 

"...       NW     

Wind  Velocity  In 
Miles  per  Hour. 

2.2 

coo 

E        ... 

5.8 

I  QOO           

E    

8.3 

2  OOO 

NE 

-3  OOO 

W    

5.4 

A  OOO 

NW 

24.6 

I2.OOO.  . 

NW 

.    4Q.2 

ator  flying  toward  the  west  at  this  time  and  place  should  have 
flown  at  an  altitude  of  1,000  meters,  while  an  aviator  flying 
toward  the  east  should  have  flown  at  an  altitude  of  4,000 
meters  or  more. 

In  order  to  meet  the  obvious  need  of  the  aviator  for  a  knowl- 


METEOROLOGICAL  WORK  61 

edge  of  upper  air  currents  the  Signal  Corps  in  the  summer  of 
1917  undertook  for  the  first  time  in  history  a  general  program 
of  mapping  the  upper  air  currents  of  the  United  States,  the 
Atlantic  and  western  Europe  in  aid  of  aviation  and  particularly 
with  reference  to  trans-Atlantic  flight.  By  the  fall  of  1918 
iwenty-six  upper  air  stations,  carefully  distributed  over  the 
United  States,  were  in  full  operation  in  place  of  the  one  station 
which  had  existed  before  the  war.  From  these  stations  reports 
are  telegraphed  twice  daily  to  the  Weather  Bureau  in  Wash-  ( 
ington.  From  the  pilot-balloon  observations,  charts  are  con- 
structed showing  the  wind-speed  and  direction  at  the  various 
levels :  for  instance,  one  chart  shows  the  wind-direction  and 
speed  near  the  ground,  another  chart  shows  the.  wind-direction 
and  speed  500  meters  above  the  ground  and  additional  charts 
show  the  wind-direction  and  speed  at  the  following  levels : 
1,000,  1,500,  2,000,  3,000  and  4,000  meters  above  the  ground. 
The  forecaster  at  Washington  has  the  various  charts  before  him 
showing  wind  and  weather  conditions  prevailing  over  the 
United  States  within  an  hour  and  a  half  after  the  observations 
are  made.  From  these  charts  he  prepares  the  forecast  of 
weather  conditions  for  the  various  sections  of  the  United  States 
and  at  the  same  time  prepares  a  statement  of  the  wind  and 
weather  conditions  at  various  altitudes  along  the  various  air 
routes  for  the  use  of  aerial  navigation.  This  service  is  al- 
ready being  used  by  the  aerial  mail  service,  and  it  is  also  used 
by  the  military  flyers,  as  is  evidenced  by  telegraphic  requests 
received  at  various  military  meteorological  stations  for  special 
reports  on  the  weather  and  wind  conditions  when  long  distance 
flights  are  contemplated. 

The  problem  of  exploring  the  upper  air  currents  over  the  At- 
lantic was  at  first  thought  insoluble  on  account  of  the  absence 
of  fixed  bases,  but  the  success  of  the  Meteorological  Service  in 
developing  its  long-range  propaganda  balloons  has  now  made 
possible  the  mapping  of  the  upper-air  highways  across  the 
Atlantic,  for  arrangements  are  being  made  to  send  up  both 
from  coastal  stations  and  from  trans-Atlantic  steamers  these 


62  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

long-range  balloons  designed  now  for  from  two  to  three  thou- 
sand mile  flights,  and  adjusted  to  maintain  a  constant  altitude 
and  to  drop  in  western  Europe  their  records  of  average  winds 
in  these  heretofore  unchartable  regions.  The  importance  of 
this  work  for  the  future  of  aviation  needs  no  emphasis. 

The  success  which  the  Meteorological  Service  has  attained 
would  have  been  wholly  impossible  had  it  not  been  for  the 
intimate  and  effective  cooperation  which  has  been  extended  to 
it  in  all  of  its  projects  by  Director  Marvin  and  the  whole  staff 
of  the  United  States  Weather  Bureau.  The  chief  credit  for 
the  work  abroad  should  go  to  Major  William  R.  Blair,  com- 
missioned from  the  Weather  Bureau  for  the  observational  work 
with  the  A.  E.  F.  For  the  success  of  the  service  in  this  coun- 
try Captain  Sherry  and  Lieutenant  Waterman  have  perhaps 
the  chief  responsibility.  Captain  Murphy  and  Professor  Fassig 
have,  however,  contributed  very  important  elements. 


SOUND-RANGING  IN  THE  AMERICAN 
EXPEDITIONARY  FORCES 

AUGUSTUS  TROWBRIDGE 

THE  following  picture  is  not  an  imaginary  one,  but  rather 
one  of  a  very  common  occurrence  throughout  the  entire 
period  of  the  war  on  the  long  battle  front  which  stretched  from 
the  Alps  to  the  sea. 

It  is  a  dark,  cloudy  night  and  enemy  shells  begin  to  fall 
near  an  important  point  in  the  trenches  or  on  battalion  or  regi- 
mental headquarters.  There  is  a  hurried  report  to  our  artil- 
lery and  in  a  few  minutes  our  own  guns  begin  to  reply  with 
shells  which  rend  the  air  or  whine  as  they  pass  overhead  to- 
ward some  invisible  mark  five  miles  distant  through  the  black 
night.  Presently  the  enemy's  fire  begins  to  falter  and  then 
ceases  and  the  infantryman,  whose  life  may  have  been  saved 
and  whose  comfort  and  efficiency  certainly  has  been  protected, 
may  wonder  how  the  artillery  knew  just  where  to  direct  its 
fire.  He  knows  how  it  is  done  in  clear  weather;  how  the 
artillery  maintains  advanced  lookout  posts  from  which  observa- 
tions are  made  on  the  flash  of  the  nearer  enemy  guns;  that 
there  are  other  and  more  elaborate  lookouts  on  high  ground 
or  in  trees  or  towers  on  the  forward  edge  of  woods  from  which 
accurate  triangulation  on  the  more  distant  hostile  batteries  may 
be  made;  but  he  knows  that  these  cannot  be  the  means  em- 
ployed in  rain,  mist  or  fog  and  he  probably  ends  by  dismissing 
the  question  with  the  thought  that  it  was  only  a  case  of  good 
luck. 

The  chances  are  that  even  his  officers  have  no  clear  idea  of 

63 


64  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

how  the  enemy  guns  are  quickly  located  in  rain,  fog  or  mist ; 
for  it  has  been  the  policy  of  the  general  staff  to  keep  very 
secret  the  details  of  a  scientific  service  in  which  the  Allies 
possess  a  very  decided  superiority  over  the  Germans. 

Let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  what  may  be  happening  on  the 
same  night  on  the  other  side  of  No  Man's  Land.  A  German 
battery  begins  to  shell  an  important  cross-roads  in  the  Allied 
back  area  in  order  to  prevent  the  bringing  up  of  munitions  or 
fresh  troops.  Presently  shells  begin  to  drop  from  somewhere 
in  France,  but  at  first  these  are  not  close  enough  to  make  it 
sure  that  they  are  trying  to  "  find  "  the  German  battery ;  then 
six  or  eight  rounds  fall  to  the  left  and  behind  the  battery ; 
then  there  follows  a  short  pause  and  another  series  of  rounds 
falls  to  the  right  and  in  front  of  the  battery ;  another  pause  and 
the  next  group  of  rounds  has  crept  closer  and  this  goes  on  un- 
til the  battery  has  become  the  center  of  a  steady  rain  of  pro- 
jectiles which  makes  it  impossible  for  the  crews  to  serve  their 
guns. 

The  German  battery  commander  knows  that  the  Allies  are 
directing  their  counter-battery  artillery  fire  by  a  means  which 
he  himself  does  not  have  at  his  disposal  and  he  knows  what 
that  means  is,  for  his  Intelligence  has  published  a  number  of 
pamphlets  which  describe  it.  He  also  has  a  set  of  instructions 
as  to  what  measures  to  adopt  if  he  suspects  that  the  Allies  are 
employing  sound-ranging  against  him  in  order  to  render  it  less 
effective,  but  these  measures  are  unavailing  against  the  most 
improved  form  of  apparatus  operated  by  the  Allies. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  the  following  article  to  •explain  in  non- 
technical terms  how  the  Allies  applied  certain  acoustic  prin- 
ciples to  determine  the  position  of  enemy  guns  when  the  more 
usual  and  simpler  visual  means  of  observation  failed  because 
of  bad  weather  or  because  the  German  batteries  were  hidden 
from  view.  It  is  in  no  sense  the  purpose  to  magnify  the  im- 
portance of  American  scientific  achievement  in  the  war,  for 
the  present  writer,  who  as  an  American  scientist  has  every  in- 
terest in  seeing  that  all  due  credit  comes  to  his  profession, 


SOUND-RANGING  65 

nevertheless  feels  that  so  far  as  the  war  in  France  is  concerned,  \ 
American  science  contributed  far  less  along  original  lines  than 
the  general  public  has  imagined.  This  is  no  slur  on  American 
science,  for  it  nobly  did  its  part  toward  bringing  the  war  to 
a  close,  but  it  did  it  along  lines  already  laid  down  by  our  Allies 
and  it  did  it  all  the  more  effectively  for  that  reason. 

The  Allies  counted  much  on  American  ingenuity  in  bettering 
the  existing  scientific  services  and  in  devising  new  applications 
of  science  to  accomplish  new  purposes,  but  both  they  and  we 
fully  realized  the  paramount  importance  of  first  establishing 
services  as  good  as  their  own  before  attempting  either  to  make 
radical  improvements  or  to  establish  new  services.  At  the 
signing  of  the  armistice  experiments  were  under  way  in 
America,  many  of  which  were  nearing  completion,  which  might 
have  added  new  and  valuable  scientific  services  to  the  number 
already  functioning  in  France,  but  the  fact  remains  that  at 
the  cessation  of  hostilities  all  that  had  been  done  was  the  estab- 
lishment of  American  scientific  units  which  were  modeled  on 
those  of  our  allies.  The  most  important  of  the  applications 
of  pure  science  which  were  a  wholly  new  product  of  land  war-1 
fare  were:  the  use  of  cloud  and  shell  gas,  the  extremely  bril- 
liant application  of  chemistry  in  the  construction  of  gas-masks, 
airplane  photography,  the  scientific  aids  to  accuracy  in  gun- 
nery and  bombing  from  airplanes,  sound-ranging,  search-light 
and  listening  devices  for  anti-aircraft  defense,  directional  wire- 
less, and  camouflage.  Practically  all  of  the  absolutely  new 
applications  of  physical  science  to  warfare  on  land  are  con- 
tained in  this  rather  short  list.  These,  of  all  the  great  number 
of  inventions  which  have  been  proposed,  it  has  been  possible 
and  necessary  to  establish  on  an  engineering  basis  and  to 
organize  into  services  for  all  the  armies  of  the  Allies. 

The  effect  of  these  few  new  applications  of  science  on  the 
character  of  the  warfare  on  the  western  front  was  very  far* 
reaching.  Airplane  photography,  for  example,  not  only  com- 
pletely revolutionized  military  map-making  but  also  profoundly 
modified  the  methods  of  the  army  Intelligence  and  made  nces- 


66  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

sary  the  establishment  of  a  large  force  for  compiling  and  com- 
paring data  from  photographs  and  for  disseminating  informa- 
tion to  all  the  various  interested  services.  The  profound 
effects  which  were  produced  by  the  gas  warfare  were  patent 
to  every  man  on  the  front  and  the  same  was  true  to  a  less 
degree  of  the  camouflage  and  some  of  the  other  services  men- 
tioned, but  the  very  existence  of  one  of  these,  sound-ranging, 
was  not  suspected  by  most  of  the  troops  engaged.  This  was  not 
because  it  was  in  its  way  less  important  than  the  others  or  be- 
cause it  was  working  less  effectively  but  rather  because  it  was 
the  policy  of  the  Allies  to  shroud  this  particular  scientific  activity 
in  the  most  complete  secrecy.  For  this  reason,  even  now" 
not  only  the  general  public  but  also  the  majority  of  those  who 
were  over  there  knows  very  little  of  the  methods  and  achieve- 
ments of  the  sound-ranging  service.  As  these  methods  possess 
a  considerable  scientific  interest  and  as  these  achievements  have 
been  very  creditable  it  is  quite  fitting  that  some  account  of  them 
should  be  included  in  this  volume. 

HISTORY 

After  the  first  Battle  of  the  Marne  the  operations  on  the 
western  front  soon  took  on  the  character  of  siege  warfare ;  the 
artillery  of  both  of  the  belligerents  was  augmented,  especially 
as  regards  the  larger  calibers  and  the  batteries  took  up  well- 
organized  positions  carefully  concealed  for  the  most  part  from 
visual  observation  by  the  enemy. 

The  possibilities  of  visual  observation  had  been  vastly  im- 
proved by  the  use  of  the  airplane  in  war,  but  these  were  some- 
what restricted  both  by  the  practice  of  camouflage  and  by  the 
generally  unfavorable  atmospheric  conditions  on  the  western 
front  Experiments  were  therefore  undertaken  by  the  French 
in  the  autumn  of  1914  with  the  object  of  ascertaining  whether 
the  location  of  hostile  guns  by  means  of  sound  waves  might 
prove  feasible.  It  was  probably  not  expected  that  a  high  de- 
gree of  accuracy  would  be  attainable  because  of  the  disturbing 
effect  of  wind  and  temperature  irregularities,  but  the  desir- 


SOUND-RANGING  67 

ability  of  even  a  fairly  accurate  method  of  location  and  rang- 
ing which  should  not  be  interfered  with  by  rain  or  fog  and 
against  which  the  practised  camouflage  should  be  unavailing 
was  so  obvious  that  the  first  successful  attempts  by  the  French 
in  1914  led  quickly  to  the  establishment  of  a  ranging  service. 

Instruments  of  four  very  different  types  for  recording  the 
arrival  of  the  sound  of  the  enemy  gun  were  tried  out  on  various 
parts  of  the  French  front.  By  1916  the  majority  of  the  French 
sound-ranging  sections  were  equipped  with  standardized  ap- 
paratus of  one  type.  A  school  for  the  instruction  of  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  sections  was  also  established  in  the  back  area. 

The  standard  type  of  apparatus  adopted  by  the  French  had 
the  advantage  of  simplicity  and  the  further  advantage  that  it 
was  for  the  most  part  an  assembly  of  well-known  commercial 
apparatus  which  had  been  in  use  in  the  field  telegraph  service 
of  the  French  Army.  These  were  real  advantages  since  the 
French  were  obliged  to  use  men  in  the  ranging  service  who 
were  often  unfitted  for  more  active  service  or  for  some  of  the 
other  more  highly  technical  services.  There  were,  however, 
certain  very  serious  defects  in  the  French  apparatus  which 
prevented  its  adoption  first  by  the  British  and  later  by  the 
Americans  for  neither  of  whom  were  the  advantages  just  men- 
tioned so  important  as  they  were  for  the  French. 

By  the  end  of  1915  the  British  had  organized  a  sound-rang- 
ing service  which  employed  a  photographic  recording  instru- 
ment devised  by  a  British  subject,  resident  in  France,  Mr. 
Lucien  Bull,  and  which  had  been  tried  out  with  success  on  the 
French  front  but  which  had  not  been  officially  adopted  by  the 
French.  In  the  hands  of  Mr.  Bull  and  Major  Bragg,  in  tech- 
nical charge  of  sound-ranging  in  the  British  Army,  the  original 
apparatus  was  perfected  so  as  to  combine  reliability  with  ample 
sensitiveness  and  an  extremely  quick  recovery  so  that  sound 
ranging  could  be  carried  on  without  confusion  during  periods 
of  relatively  great  artillery  activity. 

Shortly  after  the  entry  of  the  United  States  into  the  war  — 
in  June,  1917  —  a  French  scientific  commission  arrived  in 


68  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

Washington  with  information  regarding  a  number  of  the  new 
scientific  activities  in  the  French  Army.  This  commission 
reported  that  four  radically  different  systems  of  sound-rang- 
ing were  at  that  time  in  use  in  the  French  Army  and  recom- 
mended that  an  instrument  of  each  of  the  four  types  be  con- 
structed in  America  from  rough  sketches  which  were  furnished 
and  that  a  comparative  test  of  the  four  types  be  carried  out  at 
an  artillery  firing  field.  The  members  of  the  commission  stated 
that  such  a  test  had  not  been  carried  out  in  Europe  and  that 
it  was  regarded  as  highly  desirable  that  such  a  test  be  carried 
out  impartially  in  America.  The  commission  had  data  on  the 
original  Bull  apparatus  but  not  on  the  apparatus  as  perfected 
for  the  British;  this  was  unfortunate,  as  it  rendered  the  com- 
petitive test  incomplete  and  the  conclusions  drawn  from  the 
test  subject  to  revision  later.  ^ 

The  present  writer  was  charged  with  carrying  on  the  pre- 
liminary test  and  the  construction  of  a  field-set  of  the  type 
which  should  be  judged  most  satisfactory.  Before  construc- 
tion was  started  the  writer  secured  permission  to  go  to  France 
to  study  the  various  systems  in  actual  use  in  the  field  and  so 
became  aware  of  the  progress  which  the  British  had  made  in 
time  to  stop  construction  on  the  type  first  decided  upon  and 
to  start  construction  of  apparatus  in  quantity  of  the  Bull  type 
and  to  insure  that  the  experimental  work  in  America  be  along 
lines  determined  by  field  rather  than  laboratory  experience. 

By  the  end  of  1917  the  first  American  troops  assigned  for 
the  ranging-service  were  available  from  the  replacements  al- 
ready in  France.  The  original  group  of  about  forty  enlisted 
men  were  given  instruction  by  a  small  group  of  officers  who 
had  been  trained  on  the  British  front  in  the  theory  and  prac- 
tical application  of  sound-ranging,  and  an  American  school 
was  formed  as  a  part  of  the  Army  Engineer  Schools  near 
Langres.  All  of  the  five  companies  which  ultimately  came  to 
France  to  carry  on  the  ranging-service  (both  sound  and  flash), 
were  put  through  this  school  before  they  were  sent  to  the  front. 
The  instruction  covered  a  period  of  one  month  and  the  men 


SOUND-RANGING  69 

were  thoroughly  trained  in  the  duties  which  they  would  have 
to  perform,  with  apparatus  identical  with  that  which  they 
would  have  later  to  operate.  The  school  was  situated  in  a 
country  where  there  was  excellent  opportunity  to  reproduce 
field  conditions.  The  men  not  only  worked  in  day  and  night 
shifts  as  at  the  front,  but  were  given  practice  in  making  rapid 
changes  of  position  such  as  they  might  meet  with  later  in  a 
rapid  advance  or  a  forced  retreat.  A  short  course  in  the 
theory  of  soundr  (and  flash-)  ranging  was  given  to  intelli- 
gence officers  and  to  the  artillery  officers  who  from  time  to 
time  were  detailed  to  the  engineer  schools.  The  ranging  school 
thus  not  only  served  the  purpose  of  preliminary  training  for 
the  ranging  companies  but  also  as  a  center  from  which  in- 
formation as  to  the  possibilities,  limitations,  and  principles  of 
the  new  methods  of  ranging  could  be  disseminated  among  the 
officers  of  the  two  branches  of  the  service  with  which  the  rang- 
ing sections  worked. 

A  descriptive  pamphlet,  of  a  confidential  nature,  on  ranging 
was  also  prepared  and  distributed  for  the  information  of  ar- 
tillery and  intelligence  officers  generally. 

A  supply  depot  of  the  highly  technical  material  used  by  the 
ranging-companies  was  maintained  at  the  school,  and  a  system 
of  quick  delivery  by  light  motor-trucks  was  set  up  between 
the  depot  and  the  companies  operating  at  the  front.  During 
the  period  of  about  eight  months  (March  to  November,  1918) 
during  which  American  ranging-sections  operated,  work  never 
had  to  be  discontinued,  even  temporarily,  for  lack  of  supply 
of  the  highly  technical  materials  used  by  these  sections.  For 
a  large  portion  of  this  period  American  sections  were  oper- 
ating at  widely  scattered  positions  which  made  the  problem 
of  supply  a  difficult  one. 

ORGANIZATION    IN   THE   A.   E.   F. 

The  ranging-service  in  the  American  Expeditionary  Force 
consisted  of  two  branches,  the  sound-ranging  and  the  flash- 
ranging.  One  ranging-company  was  allotted  to  each  American 


70  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

corps,  and  such  a  company  furnished  two  sound-  and  two 
flash-ranging  sections,  each  section  forming  a  unit  capable  of 
covering  a  front  of  about  five  miles.  Since  an  American  army 
normally  consisted  of  five  corps,  this  gave  a  battalion  of  five 
ranging  companies  per  army,  and  this  battalion,  if  necessary, 
could  cover  with  both  sound-  and  flash-ranging  a  front  of  fifty 
miles.  An  army  of  five  corps  is  not  likely  to  have  to  cover  so 
wide  a  front  as  this  even  in  defensive  operations,  while  in  of- 
fensive operations  on  a  narrower  front  the,  reduction  in  the 
necessary  number  of  the  ranging-sections  could  take  care  of 
the  increase  in  the  number  of  men  required  to  run  a  section 
under  battle  conditions.  Under  the  conditions  of  trench  war- 
fare, four  officers  and  from  fifty-five  to  sixty  men  were  found 
to  be  sufficient  personnel  for  a  sound-ranging  section.  One 
officer  is  in  charge  of  the  maintenance  and  repairs  of  the  rela- 
tively large  network  of  electrical  lines  running  across  the 
shelled  area  to  the  observation  stations.  Two  officers  are 
needed,  besides  the  commanding  officer,  to  supervise  the  work 
at  the  central  or  calculating  station  where  three  eight-hour 
shifts  are  maintained  and  from  which  reports  of  hostile  fire 
or  directions  for  ranging  the  fire  of  friendly  guns  are  tele- 
phoned to  the  artillery  information  officer.  On  an  active  front 
two  more  officers  and  about  twenty  more  men  are  needed. 
About  one-third  of  the  men  in  a  section  are  needed  for  mainte- 
nance of  the  electrical  lines  of  communication,  another  third 
for  calculation,  instrumental  work  and  forward  observation 
and  the  remaining  third  for  transportation,  supply,  cooking, 
orderlies,  etc.  The  policy  adopted  was  to  keep  the  minimum 
number  of  men  necessary  for  proper  observation  at  a  section, 
with  reserves  at  company  and  battalion  headquarters  ready  to 
be  sent  where  most  needed. 

PRINCIPLES   OF   SOUND-RANGING 

Sound  travels  in  still  air  at  zero  degrees  centigrade,  (the 
freezing  point  of  water),  at  the  rate  of  330.6  meters  per  sec- 
ond (rcughly  iioo  feet  per  second).  At  10  degrees  cent,  the 


SOUND-RANGING  71 

speed,  to  the  nearest  whole  number,  is  337  meters  per  second. 
The  velocity  is  not  only  affected  by  the  temperature  of  the  air 
but  also  the  apparent  velocity  is  very  markedly  affected  by  the 
velocity  and  direction  of  the  wind.  It  follows  from  this  that 
a  survey  carried  out  by  the  means  of  sound  waves,  unlike  a 
survey  carried  out  in  the  ordinary  manner  by  -light  waves,  is 
subject  to  errors  introduced  by  the  lack  of  accurate  knowledge 
of  the  wind  and  temperature  corrections  which  it  is  necessary 
to  apply  to  the  data  of  observation.  Furthermore  there  is  a 
lack  of  parallelism  between  a  light  survey  and  a  sound  survey 
which  will  be  evident  from  the  following  consideration.  To 
locate  a  point  on  the  ground  by  a  light  survey  it  is  only  neces- 
sary to  secure  an  intersection  of  two  light  beams  from  two 
known  points  on  a  surveyed  base  line  by  the  use  of  relatively 
small  telescopes,  while  to  obtain  a  location  at  all  comparable  in 
accuracy  by  means  of  sound  it  would  be  necessary  to  use  in- 
struments of  prohibitively  great  size.  Fortunately,  however, 
advantage  may  be  taken  of  the  low  velocity  of  sound  compared 
to  that  of  light  to  obtain  a  survey  from  three  points  without 
the  use  of  listening  apparatus  of  great  size.  This  method  en- 
tails the  accurate  measurement  of  the  differences  of  times  of 
arrival  of  sound  at  the  three  points.  This,  of  course,  requires 
the  use  of  some  form  of  accurate  clock  and  precludes  the  use  of 
human  observers  who  are  likely  to  differ  so  much  in  their  reac- 
tion times  that  their  results  are  only  roughly  comparable. 

In  still  air  at  10  degrees  centigrade  the  sound  from  a  gun 
moves  out  in  a  wave  of  compression  and  rarefaction  which 
travels  337  meters  per  second.  If  the  gun  is  at  G  and 
mechanical  listeners  electrically  connected  to  a  common  timing 

1  The  Germans  employed  a  sound-ranging  system  with  human  ob- 
servers especially  trained  and  selected  to  have  equal  reaction  time  but 
the  results  obtained  by  the  Germans  fell  far  short  of  what  the  Allies 
accomplished.  The  German  system  was  defective  not  only  as  regards 
accuracy  but  also  as  regards  the  speed  with  which  results  could  be 
reported;  what  the  Allies  could  do  in  two  minutes  took  the  Germans 
nearly  an  hour. 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


device  are  situated  at  Mj,  M2  and  M3  and  if,  for  example  G  Mx 
be  3370  meters,  the  sound  of  the  gun  will  reach  Mj  in  10  sec- 
onds, and  the  front  of  the  spherical  wave  will  go  through  M±, 
N2  and  N8.  This  wave  front  moving  with  the  velocity  of  337 
meters  per  second  will  reach  M2  later  than  it  reaches  Mt. 
How  much  later  is  determined  by  the  time  it  takes  the  sound 

N  M 
to  travel  the  distance  N2  M2  (that  is  by— - — -seconds).     Thus 

oo/ 

\  1  •*? 

\l 


*/ 


|A3 


A 

/' 

Figure  i 
the  interval  between  the  arrival  of  the  sound  at  Mt  and  at  Ma 


will  be 


337 


seconds  and  the  interval  between  the  arrival  at 


!  and  at  M3  will  be  —  -  —  -  seconds.     Suppose  the  distance 


N2M2  were  33.7  meters,  then  the  interval  of  time  between  the 
arrival  at  Mx  and  at  M2  would  be  one-tenth  of  a  second  and 


SOUND-RANGING  73 

this  would  be  what  would  be  recorded  on  the  timing  device 
electrically  connected  with  Mx  and  M2.  This  interval  alone 
would  not  serve  to  locate  the  position  of  the  gun  for  there  is 
a  whole  series  of  positions  which  the  gun  might  occupy  and 
still  send  the  sound  to  Mx  a  tenth  of  a  second  earlier  than  to 
M2 ;  in  fact  G  might  lie  anywhere  provided  G  M2  were  greater 
than  G  Mx  by  33.7  meters  in  the  example  chosen.  Stated 
more  mathematically,  G  must  lie  on  a  particular  hyperbola  hav- 
ing M!  and  M2  as  foci,  for  an  hyperbola  is  a  curve  drawn  in 
sych  a  way  that  the  difference  of  the  distances  from  any  point 
of  the  curve  to  two  fixed  points,  or  foci,  is  a  constant  (33.7 
meters  in  this  case).  Now  if  G  is  not  close  to  M±  and  M2 
compared  to  the  distance  between  Mx  and  M2,  which  is  the 
practical  case  on  the  battle  front,  the  hyperbola  on  which  G 
must  lie  is  practically  a  portion  of  a  straight  line  which,  if  pro- 
longed, goes  through  a  point  midway  between  Mt  and  M2  and 
thus  it  is  possible  to  determine  the  direction  from  this  mid- 
point to  the  gun.  A  plotting  board  may  be  prepared  in  ad- 
vance which  has  a  string  pivoted  on  the  mid-point  A,  and  a 
scale  on  the  edge  of  the  board  marked  with  hundredth  and 
tenth  seconds  intervals.  In  the  example  taken  this  string 
would  have  to  be  set  at  the  interval  marked  one-tenth  of  a 
second  and  the  gun  would  be  determined  to  lie  on  the  ground 
at  some  point  represented  on  the  plotting  board  as  a  point 
lying  under  the  string.  Similarly,  if  the  observed  interval  be- 
tween the  times  of  arrival  of  the  report  at  M2  and  M3  be  laid 
off  on  a  second  scale  for  a  string  pivoted  on  the  mid-point  B 
the  intersection  of  the  two  strings  would  locate  on  the  plotting 
board  the  position  of  the  gun  on  the  ground.  Naturally  the 
plotting  board  must  be  very  carefully  prepared  from  an  ac- 
curate survey  of  the  positions  of  the  listening  instruments  on 
the  ground. 

The  location  found  on  the  plotting  board  will  only  be  exact 
without  correction  if  the  temperature  of  the  air  is  10  degrees 
centigrade  and  if  there  is  no  wind.  If  there  is  no  wind  but 
the  temperature  is  greater  than  10  degrees  centigrade  the  sound 


74  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

will  have  traveled  more  rapidly  than  was  assumed  in  the 
preparation  of  the  plotting  board  and  the  intervals  will  thus 
be  too  small  for  the  scale  adopted  in  drawing  the  board.  The 
amounts  by  which  the  intervals  must  be  augmented  or  dimin- 
ished if  the  temperature  of  the  air  be  known  are  easily  cal- 
culated and  the  strings  may  be  set  for  the  corrected  intervals 
and  the  intersection  then  determines  the  true  position  of  the 
gun  as  before.  If  a  wind  be  blowing  with'  a  known  velocity 
in  a  given  direction  it  is  only  the  components  of  this  velocity 
which  lie  along  the  directions  G  M1?  G  M2,  and  G  M3  which 
will  affect  the  times  of  arrival  of  the  sound  at  the  listening  in- 
struments; the  observed  intervals  may  therefore  be  easily  cor- 
rected to  what  they  would  have  been  were  there  no  wind  and 
the  plotting  strings  set  accordingly. 

The  theory  of  the  application  of  the  wind  and  temperature 
corrections  is  an  extremely  simple  matter  and  the  application 
itself  is  easy  and  rapid  because  of  the  graphical  method  of 
calculation  employed  in  the  construction  of  the  string  plotting 
board.  The  real  difficulty  lies  in  an  uncertainty  as  to  what  the 
true  temperature  and  wind  are,  since  the  sound  comes  by  a 
path  inaccessible  to  observation.  More  than  half  of  the  path 
lies  behind  the  enemy  lines  and  the  remainder  lies  in  a  region 
in  which  it  is  not  permissible  to  attract  the  attention  of  the 
enemy  by  carrying  on  any  unnecessary  activities. 

A  very  valuable  study  of  the  wind  and  temperature  cor- 
rections to  be  applied  to  the  observed  data  of  sound-ranging 
was  made  by  the  British  before  the  entry  of  the  United  States 
into  the  war  and  an  empirical  rule  was  found  to  hold  that 
these  corrections  should  be  based  on  observations  of  wind  and 
temperature  made  as  near  the  front  as  convenient  and  at  a 
height  of  fifty  meters  above  the  ground.  In  the  American 
service  the  meteorological  data  were  not  available  from  army 
sources  when  the  first  sound-ranging  sections  went  into  the 
field  in  March  1918,  so  each  section  was  equipped  to  obtain 
its  own  data. 

There  are  other  wind  and  temperature  effects  which  are  of 


SOUND-RANGING 


75 


a  qualitative  nature  and  may  very  seriously  affect  the  operation 
of  a  sound-ranging  section,  since  corrections  are  usually  not 
possible.  If  the  wind  be  blowing  in  a  general  direction  towards 
the  enemy  the  sound  of  his  guns  may  not  arrive  at  the  listening 
instruments  because  of  a  lifting  of  the  sound  waves  as  they 

'     Wind 


Figure  2 

advance  against  a  wind  whose  velocity  is  generally  greater  at 
the  higher  levels  than  it  is  near  the  ground.  This  case  is 
illustrated  in  Figure  2. 

If  the  direction  of  the  wind  is  from  the  enemy  guns  the 
sound  reaches  the  listening  instruments,  but  it  is  prolonged 


Ground  Leve 


Figure  3 

by  reason  of  echoes  from  the  ground  and  the  result  of  this 
is  that  the  time  of  arrival  is  not  clearly  marked.  This 
case  is  illustrated  in  Figure  3.  Echoes  also  occur  because  of 
temperature  inequalities  which  cause  reflection  of  the  sound 


76  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

from  air  strata  of  unequal  density  at  various  heights  above  the 
ground. 

Three  listening  instruments  electrically  connected  with  a 
"  central "  or  calculating  station  are  theoretically  sufficient  to 
permit  of  a  survey  of  the  enemy  batteries  by  sound ;  however, 
it  is  in  practice  advisable  to  employ  more  than  three  instru- 
ments for  the  following  reasons :  The  electrical  connections 
between  the  instruments  and  the  time-recording  mechanism  at 
the  "  central "  are  unavoidably  subject  to  considerable  cutting 
by  the  enemy's  shell-fire;  it  is  out  of  the  question  to  bury  the 
lines  to  a  sufficient  depth  to  avoid  all  cutting  and  to  bury  them 
in  a  shallow  trench  renders  the  location  and  repair  of  the  breaks 
which  do  occur,  extremely  difficult ;  the  practice  has  been  to  lay 
the  lines  exposed  on  the  ground  and  to  provide  a  sufficient  force 
of  linesmen  to  ensure  quick  repairs.  In  order  that  the  section 
may  continue  its  work  while  such  repairs  are  being  made,  six 
listeners  instead  of  three  are  provided  in  the  expectation  that  at 
least  three  will  always  be  in  working  condition.  If  only  the 
minimum  number  (three)  of  listening  instruments  are  employed 
no  estimate  of  the  accuracy  of  a  location  can  be  formed  whereas 
if  six  instruments  be  used  the  location  is  determined  by  the 
intersection  of  five  strings  on  the  plotting  board;  if  these  all 
intersect  in  a  point  the  location  is  probably  accurate  whereas 
if  they  intersect  in  a  large  cat's  cradle  the  location  is  probably 
badly  in  error.  A  study  was  made  of  the  errors  corresponding 
to  certain  typical  cat's  cradles  and  a  general  plan  of  reporting 
the  probable  accuracy  of  a  location  from  the  character  of  the 
intersection  was  adopted.  The  officer  in  command  of  a  sound- 
ranging  section  thus  reported  to  the  artillery  not  only  the  loca- 
tion, target  and  probable  caliber  of  an  active  enemy  battery 
but  also  whether  the  location  was  probably  accurate  to  fifty, 
one  hundred  or  one  hundred  and  fifty  meters;  these  estimates 
were  formed  in  a  scientific  manner  and  all  of  the  various  sec- 
tions on  the  front  employed  the  same  method.  After  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  enemy's  battery  positions  had  been 
captured  it  was  possible  to  check  up  the  errors  of  the  in- 


SOUND-RANGING 


77 


dividual  sound-ranging  locations  with  the  results  of  a  careful 
survey  of  the  positions;  it  was  found  that  the  estimates  of 
accuracy  had  been  rather  too  conservative,  for  in  none  of  the 
cases  examined  was  the  accuracy  less  than  had  been  claimed 


Centra/ 

Figure  4 

when  the  report  was  made  and  in  the  majority  of  the  cases 
it  was  considerably  greater. 

A  sound-ranging  section  consisted  of  six  listening  instru- 
ments at  carefully  surveyed  positions  on  the  ground;  each  of 
these  instruments  was  electrically  connected  with  a  recording 


78  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

photographic  chronograph  at  a  "  central  "  or  calculating  sta- 
tion so  situated  as  to  entail  the  minimum  amount  of  wire  con- 
nection to  the  listening  instruments.  Each  section  had  two 
advanced  posts  at  which  observers  were  on  duty  day  and  night 
in  order  to  start  the  automatic  recording  mechanism  at  the 
"  central "  when  necessary.  The  listening  instruments  were 
equi-spaced  on  a  straight  line,  or  more  generally  on  an  arc  of 
a  circle  which  was  concave  toward  the  enemy,  situated  a  short 
distance  behind  the  line  of  the  advanced  posts  mentioned  above. 
The  distance  between  the  listening  instruments  was  generally 
about  fifteen  hundred  meters  so  that  the  entire  length  of  the 
sound-ranging  base  was  about  seventy-five  hundred  meters  or 
slightly  less  than  five  miles.  The  employment  of  a  regular 
base,  generally  an  arc  of  a  circle,  was  a  highly  important  in- 
novation which  was  introduced  by  the  British ;  it  rendered  the 
interpretation  of  the  records  easy  even  when  there  was  con- 
siderable artillery  activity  because  the  indications  on  the  record 
which  were  caused  by  any  one  of  the  many  guns  which  might 
be  firing  at  about  the  same  time  were  spread  out  on  the  record 
in  a  simple  geometric  pattern  if  the  listening  instruments  were 
arranged  on  the  ground  in  a  simple  curve.  Owing  to  this  it 
was  possible  to  locate  several  guns,  firing  practically  simul- 
taneously, without  a  loss  of  time  in  correctly  interpreting  the 
photographic  record  delivered  by  the  instrument  at  the  central 
station. 

The  recording  mechanism  at  the  "  central  "  consisted  of  an 
accurate  timing  device  arranged  so  as  to  photograph  on  a 
moving  strip  of  sensitized  paper  a  series  of  lines  about  one- 
fiftieth  of  an  inch  apart ;  these  lines  were  the  shadows  cast  by 
a  set  of  spokes  of  a  wheel  which  was  kept  spinning  in  the  path 
of  a  beam  of  light  which  fell  on  the  sensitized  paper;  the  rate 
of  spin  of  the  spoked  wheel  was  governed  by  a  tuning  fork  so 
that  the  shadows  were  cast  on  the  paper  with  the  greatest  at- 
tainable regularity;  the  rate  chosen  was  one  hundred  shadows 
per  second  so  that  the  photographic  paper  had  recorded  on  it 
across  its  entire  width  an  extremely  accurate  time  scale  the 


SOUND-RANGING  79 

smallest  interval  of  which  was  one  one  hundredth  of  a  second ; 
the  tenth  second  mark  and  the  entire  second  mark  were  made 
so  as  to  be  easily  distinguishable  from  the  others  in  order  to 
permit  rapid  counting.  The  photographic  paper  employed 
was  of  the  width  of  the  standard  moving  picture  film  as  this 
could  be  obtained  quickly  and  at  low  cost  both  in  Europe  and 
America. 

Superimposed  on  the  time  scale  on  the  paper  were  six 
shadows  evenly  spaced  across  the  width  of  the  paper;  these 
shadows  were  cast  by  six  tiny  moving  elements  of  a  specially 
constructed  galvanometer.  One  of  each  of  these  elements  was 
electrically  connected  to  a  corresponding  one  of  the  listening 
instruments  of  the  sound-ranging  base.  When  the  sound  of 
a  gun  arrived  at  listener  No.  i  there  occurred  a  slight  twitch 
in  the  element  No.  I  of  the  galvanometer  and  this  twitch  was 
photographically  recorded  on  the  moving  paper  strip.  The 
time  the  twitch  occurred  could  be  read  with  an  accuracy  of  at 
least  a  hundredth  of  a  second  because  the  record  of  the  twitch 
and  of  the  time  were  superposed  on  the  same  piece  of  photo- 
graphic paper.  When  the  sound  arrived  at  listener  No.  2 
the  element  No.  2  responded  and  recorded  the  exact  time  as 
just  described  for  No.  I  and  the  same  was  true  for  the  other 
four  elements.  Thus  if  the  mechanism  were  set  in  motion 
before  the  sound  of  the  gun  reached  the  listener  nearest  to  the 
gun  and  was  allowed  to  run  until  the  sound  reached  the  listener 
furthest  from  the  gun  the  photographic  record  which  was  de- 
livered, automatically  developed  and  fixed,  contained  all  the  in- 
formation necessary  to  calculate  the  gun's  position ;  i.  e.,  it  con- 
tained the  five  intervals  between  the  times  of  arrival  at  the  six 
listening  instruments.  If,  as  generally,  the  recorder  was  run 
for  twenty  or  thirty  seconds,  the  burst  of  the  enemy's  shell  was 
also  recorded  and  its  position  could  be  reported  to  the  artillery 
in  one  to  two  minutes  after  the  gun  had  fired. 

Figure  5  illustrates  the  type  of  record  obtained  from  various 
types  of  German  guns  variously  located  with  reference  to  the 
listening  instrument.  Figure  5  A  shows  the  "  twitches  "  on 


•So 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


all  six  recording  elements  due  to  the  sound  from  a  15  centi- 
meter howitzer  situated  very  nearly  equidistant  from  all  six 
of  the  listeners.  The  vertical  lines  represent  tenth  second 
intervals.  The  hundredth  second  intervals  which  appear  on 
the  actual  film  have  been  omitted  from  the  drawing.  Figure 


15-cm.  Howitzer. 


10'5-cm.  Howitzer. 


c. 


si 


Figure  5 

5  B  is  similar  to  A  except  that  a  wind  was  blowing  from  the 
left  flank  which  caused  the  sound  to  be  so  loud  on  the  right 
flank  that  the  twitches  of  the  lower  elements  are  too  rapid  to 
photograph.  Figure  5  C  is  the  record  from  a  high  velocity 
gun  situated  towards  the  right  flank  of  the  sound-ranging  base. 
The  portions  of  the  record  marked  S  are  due  to  the  bow  wave 
of  the  shell  as  it  passes  over  the  various  listening  instruments 
while  the  portions  marked  G  are  due  to  the  muzzle  wave  of 


SOUND-RANGING  81 

the  gun.  It  is,  of  course,  this  latter  portion  of  the  record  that 
is  used  to  calculate  the  position  of  the  gun.  The  time  in- 
tervals between  S  and  G  serve  to  identify  the  caliber  of  the  gun. 

The  listening  instruments  were  grids  of  very  fine  wire  elec- 
trically heated  and  mounted  in  the  narrow  neck  of  bottle- 
shaped  containers.  When  the  sound  from  a  gun  arrived  at 
the  container,  air  was  forced  in  and  out  by  the  pressure  changes 
existing  in  the  passing  sound  wave ;  the  air  rushing  in  and  out 
cooled  the  hot  wire  mounted  in  the  neck  of  the  bottle  and  this 
cooling  disturbed  the  flow  of  the  electric  current  used  to  heat 
the  wire,  and  the  variation  in  the  flow  of  current  was  what 
actuated  the  moving  part  of  the  galvanometer  at  the  "  central  " 
and  caused  the  twitch  in  the  shadow  recorded  on  the  moving 
photographic  paper.  The  listeners  were  rendered  purposely 
insensitive  to  loud  but  high-pitched  noises  like  rifle  fire,  etc., 
but  purposely  very  sensitive  to  grave  and  sometimes  almost 
inaudible  sounds  like  heavy  caliber  artillery  fire;  in  fact,  for 
the  purpose  for  which  they  are  designed  the  listeners  were 
superior  to  the  human  ear  and  were  able  to  pick  up  German 
guns  as  far  in  the  rear  as  guns  were  likely  to  be  placed.  Very 
often  a  gun  —  the  report  of  which  had  not  been  audible  —  was 
found  on  the  same  record  with  a  nearer  and  audible  gun. 

The  timing  device  at  the  "  central "  station  was  run  continu- 
ously day  and  night  but  the  remainder  of  the  apparatus  was  run 
only  when  firing  was  taking  place ;  for  this  reason  the  apparatus 
was  electrically  controlled  by  observers  stationed  near  the  front 
line  trenches;  these  observers  had  certain  groups  of  enemy 
artillery  assigned  to  them  for  surveillance  and  they  were 
instructed  to  start  the  recording  mechanism  whenever  they 
heard  firing  from  their  assigned  areas.  There  were  generally 
two  or  more  forward  observation  stations  (marked  O.  P.  on 
Figure  4)  to  each  sound-ranging  section,  so  chosen  with  refer- 
ence to  the  lay  of  the  land,  that  no  enemy-firing  on  the  five  mile 
front  could  take  place  without  attracting  the  attention  of  at  least 
one  of  the  groups  of  forward  observers. 

A  typical  record  not  only  contained  data  from  which  the 


82  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

position  of  the  enemy  gun  could  be  located  but  also  contained 
data  from  which  the  location  of  the  burst  of  the  shell  could 
be  calculated;  thus  both  the  range  and  the  time  of  flight  of  the 
shell  were  known.  In  the  case  of  guns  employing  fixed 
ammunition  charge  a  knowledge  of  these  two  quantities  was 
sufficient  to  determine  the  caliber  of  the  gun  since  the  values 
of  the  muzzle  velocities  of  many  of  the  German  guns  were  well 
known  to  the  Allies.  Even  in  the  case  of  guns  not  employing 
fixed  ammunition  charge  the  fact  that  the  burst  of  the  shell 
could  be  located  enabled  the  officer  in  charge  of  the  section 
to  recover  fragments  of  the  shell  on  which  to  base  an  estimate 
of  the  caliber. 

The  possibility  of  an  estimate  of  the  caliber  of  the  enemy 
guns  was  one  of  the  unique  features  of  sound-ranging. 
Another  important  feature  was  the  ability  to  locate  guns  which 
were  brought  up  by  the  enemy  in  preparation  for  an  attack 
and  which  were  therefor  not  used  in  the  period  preceding  the 
attack  in  order  to  insure  an  element  of  surprise.  Such  guns 
usually  fired  but  one  or  two  ranging  shots  and  if  they  were 
well  concealed  usually  escaped  detection  by  ordinary  means; 
many  such  guns  were  located  by  sound-ranging  when  they  fired 
their  first,  and  often  only,  ranging  shot. 

The  location  of  the  enemy  artillery  formed  only  one  part, 
though  the  more  important  part,  of  the  routine  work  of  a  sound- 
ranging  section.  When,  because  of  bad  weather,  aerial  or  other 
visual  observation  was  impossible  the  sound-ranging  sections 
were  called  on  to  correct  the  fire  of  the  friendly  artillery  on 
enemy  objectives  either  to  silence  the  fire  of  batteries  or  to 
harass  the  enemy  traffic  in  the  back  areas.  In  the  case  of 
silencing  the  fire  of  an  enemy  battery  which  had  just  fired, 
sound-ranging  was  very  effective.  The  following  considera- 
tion will  show  why  this  was  so:  suppose  an  enemy  gun  has 
just  fired  and  that  a  record  has  been  obtained  by  the  sound- 
ranging  section;  to  obtain  an  accurate  location  it  is  necessary 
to  apply  temperature  and  wind  corrections  to  the  observed 
data  and  it  is  the  lack  of  accurate  knowledge  of  the  wind  and 


SOUND-RANGING  83 

temperature  which  causes  errors  in  the  location;  suppose  that 
instead  of  attempting  to  locate  the  gun  the  approximate  posi- 
tion is  reported  to  the  friendly  artillery  and  a  shell  is  thrown 
immediately  somewhere  near  the  enemy  gun  and  a  sound- 
ranging  record  is  taken  of  the  burst  of  this  shell.  If,  by 
chance,  the  shell  had  hit  the  gun  the  sound-ranging  records  of 
the  gun  and  of  the  burst  would  be  identical,  for  whatever  effect 
wind  and  temperature  had  had  on  the  one  record  it  would 
also  have  had  on  the  other.  Even  though  the  first  shell  does 
not  hit  the  gun  it  will  be  near  enough  so  that  its  relative  position 
to  the  gun  may  be  accurately  calculated  from  the  difference 
of  the  two  records.  If  the  sound-ranging  section  commander 
reports  the  first  shell  as  so  many  meters  left  and  so  many 
meters  short,  for  example,  the  battery  commander  may  correct 
round  after  round  in  this  manner  until  a  direct  hit  is  obtained. 
A  technique  of  rapid  calculation  was  devised  which  permitted 
the  simultaneous  correction  of  the  fire  of  all  four  guns  of  a 
friendly  battery  firing  salvos.  The  fall  of  individual  rounds 
was  in  practice  not  reported  though  they  were  of  course 
observed  but  rather  the  mean  point  of  burst  of  six  or  eight 
rounds  of  each  of  the  guns  was  reported;  the  battery  com- 
mander made  his  corrections  and  another  series  of  rounds  was 
fired  and  new  corrections  were  applied  and  this  was  generally 
sufficient  to  make  it  worth  while  to  fire  for  effect.  This  method 
of  ranging  was  only  employed  when  the  simpler  visual  methods 
were  impossible  as  it  necessitated  a  partial  suspension  of  the 
normal  work  of  the  sound-ranging  section  which  was  the  loca- 
tion of  active  enemy  batteries. 

Ranging  on  an  objective  other  than  a  gun  which  had  just 
fired  was  of  course  subject  to  the  inaccuracies  due  to  wind  and 
temperature.  However,  in  this  case  the  objective  was  gener- 
ally a  large  one  such  as  an  ammunition  dump,  rest  billets,  cross- 
roads, or  the  like,  so  that  a  high  degree  of  accuracy  was  neither 
sought  nor  needed. 


84 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


ACCURACY   OF   LOCATIONS 

After  the  capture  of  the  St.  Mihiel  salient  and  again  after  the 
armistice,  surveys  were  made  by  the  army  topographers  of  the 
gun  positions  which  had  been  located  by  sound-ranging  and 
the  data  from  these  surveys  were  used  by  the  officers  in  charge 
of  the  sound-ranging  sections  to  determine  what  errors  had 


MAP   SQUARE    28 


A.I.  ,3. 
oyad 

Individual  &#:& 


**  •" 

/0°          " 


P4759 


Figure  6 

been  made  in  their  locations.  This  study  brought  a  number 
of  interesting  results  to  light,  some  of  which  are  of  theoretical 
interest  to  physicists  and  meteorologists  and  some  of  which 
are  of  practical  importance  in  pointing  the  way  to  improvements 
in  any  future  sound-ranging  service  in  the  army.  The  chief 
result  of  practical  importance  was  that  the  average  value  of  a 
small  number  of  locations  obtained  under  different  weather 


SOUND-RANGING  85 

conditions,  is  of  a  surprisingly  high  order  of  accuracy.  The 
error  is  often  less  than  ten  meters  and  rarely  more  than  twenty- 
five  meters  at  a  distance  of  from  five  to  eight  miles.  The  reason 
for  this  high  order  of  accuracy  of  the  average  is  probably  the 
following:  Systematic  errors,  such  as  those  due  to  a  careless 
survey  of  the  sound-ranging  base  or  to  errors  in  the  timing 
device,  etc.,  are  practically  non-existent  and  all  errors  are  hap- 
hazard in  character.  The  relative  excellence  of  each  location 
of  a  series  may  be  judged  from  the  character  of  the  intersec- 
tion on  the  plotting  board  as  described  earlier  in  this  article 
so  that  a  fairly  correct  weighted  average  may  be  formed  by 
counting  locations,  estimated  as  correct  to  within  fifty  meters, 
three  times,  those  estimated  as  correct  to  within  one  hundred 
meters,  twice,  and  those  to  within  one  hundred  and  fifty  meters, 
once.  Whatever  unsystematic  error  due  to  wind  and  tempera- 
ture has  been  introduced  will  affect  the  weighted  average  value 
far  less  than  it  affects  the  individual  values,  for  such  errors 
will  tend  to  cancel  each  other's  effect. 

As  a  result  of  the  study  of  the  errors  in  the  sound-ranging 
locations  of  scores  of  enemy  batteries  it  appears  that  the 
section  commander  should  report  to  the  artillery  the  average 
of  all  previous  locations  of  a  battery  rather  than  the  latest 
location  or  even  the  best  location  as  judged  from  the  character 
of  the  intersection  of  the  strings  on  the  plotting  board.  (There 
are  many  instances  showing  that  the  average  of  five  or  more 
locations,  no  one  of  which  was  correct  to  within  150  meters, 
was  accurate  to  within  50  meters.)  Of  course  in  mobile  war- 
fare averages  should  not  be  taken  nor  should  they  be  taken 
in  position  warfare  if  there  is  any  reason  to  suspect  that  the 
gun  is  not  occupying  a  fixed  emplacement. 

The  great  accuracy  of  the  average  of  a  series  of  sound- 
ranging  locations  was  not  suspected  during  the  war  even  by 
those  engaged  in  this  service ;  had  it  been  recognized  an  incident 
like  the  following  would  have  been  impossible.  In  the 
St.  Mihiel  sector  there  was  an  enemy  battery  position  which 
was  repeatedly  reported  by  sound-ranging  as  active.  The 


86  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

average  of  eight  locations  showed  it  to  have  the  map  co- 
ordinates, x=350930  meters  and  7=234700  meters;  subse- 
quent survey  showed  that  the  middle  of  the  battery  actually 
had  the  coordinates,  x=35O92o  and  y=2347io.  The  error 
amounted  to  16  meters  (in  x)  too  far  to  the  East  and  10 
meters  (in  y)  too  far  to  the  South  or  about  19  meters  actual 
error  on  the  ground.  This  battery  had  eight  gun  pits,  six  of 
which  had  been  recently  occupied ;  nearby  were  deep,  safe  dug- 
outs and  the  whole  position  was  well  designed  and  executed; 
it  had  never  been  shelled  by  our  artillery  as  it  had  never  been 
listed  as  an  active  battery.  About  two  hundred  meters  away 
from  this  very  active  battery  was  an  emplacement  which 
showed  up  clearly  on  the  airplane  photographs  but  which  an 
examination  of  the  ground,  after  the  position  had  been  cap- 
tured, showed  had  not  been  active  within  at  least  a  year.  This 
inactive  battery  was  listed  by  our  artillery  and  it  was  assumed 
that  the  locations  reported  by  sound-ranging  of  the  really  active 
but  concealed  battery  were  incorrect  locations  of  the  visible 
but  inactive  battery.  Had  either  the  artillery  or  the  sound- 
rangers  had  a  proper  confidence  in  the  accuracy  of  the  sound 
location  the  German  gunners  would  have  had  need  of  their 
deep  safe  dug-outs  and  our  own  lines  would  have  been  shelled 
less.  Instances  like  the  above  were  not  common,  however,  and, 
generally  speaking,  the  artillery  made  full  and  efficient  use  of 
the  data  supplied  by  sound-ranging.  The  surveys  brought  to 
light  full  confirmation  of  the  theoretical  considerations  on  the 
accuracy  of  the  individual  locations ;  thus,  errors  in  range  were 
always  greater  than  errors  in  line  and  errors  of  both  kinds 
were  less  when  the  gun  was  opposite  the  middle  of  the  sound- 
ranging  base  than  when  it  occupied  a  flanking  position.  Obser- 
vations on  guns  lying  more  than  one  kilometer  outside  the 
perpendiculars  erected  on  the  ends  of  the  chord  of  the  base 
may  be  quite  worthless  as  regards  the  determination  of  the 
range  though  still  quite  accurate  as  regards  the  determination 
of  the  line.  This  was  predicted  from  geometrical  considera- 
tions and  in  consequence  it  was  the  practice  for  some  time 


SOUND-RANGING  87 

before  the  close  of  the  war  to  locate  enemy  guns  by  employing 
two  or  more  sound-ranging  sections  working  together,  so  that 
each  might  give  an  accurate  determination  of  line  and  by  com- 
bining these  to  obtain  an  accurate  determination  both  of  line 
and  range. 

An  idea  may  be  gained  of  the  amount  of  artillery  information 
supplied  by  the  sound-ranging  sections  from  the  following 
figures  taken  from  a  report  of  the  artillery  information  officer 
of  one  of  the  American  Corps.  This  officer  had  as  sources  of 
information  American  sound- ranging  sections,  and  American 
and  French  flash-ranging  sections.  During  a  period  of  rapid 
advance  425  separate  locations  of  enemy  batteries  were  made; 
of  these  two  American  flash  sections  reported  63  per  cent., 
three  French  flash  sections  16  per  cent,  and  three  American 
sound  sections  21  per  cent.  In  a  period  of  two  weeks  when  the 
advance  had  been  temporarily  checked  by  the  enemy  the  total 
number  of  locations  was  392  and  the  percentages  were :  three 
American  flash  sections  reported  38  per  cent.,  two  French  flash 
sections  reported  8  per  cent,  and  three  American  sound  sections 
54  per  cent. 

In  another  and  very  active  sector,  where  there  was  but  one 
American  sound  section  and  one  American  flash  section,  the 
figures  were :  during  a  period  of  three  days  preparation  for  an 
advance,  sound  22  locations,  flash  22,  balloons  o,  aviation  o. 
During  a  period  of  sixteen  days  rapid  advance,  sound  4,  flash 
46,  balloons  30,  aviation  15.  During  a  period  of  four  days  of 
stabilization,  sound  6,  flash  34,  balloons  13,  aviation  15.  These 
figures  are  fairly  characteristic  and  bring  out  clearly  the  rela- 
tively great  importance  of  sound-ranging  during  the  stationary 
warfare  and  of  visual  observation  during  actual  attack.  This 
was  to  be  expected  as  sound-ranging  was  devised  to  meet  the 
peculiar  conditions  of  trench  warfare.  When,  in  the  spring 
of  1918,  it  became  apparent  that  a  more  open  warfare  was 
beginning,  the  sound-ranging  sections  were  trained  and 
equipped  so  as  to  become  as  mobile  as  the  -artillery  of  the 
heavier  calibers  but  they  never  were  able  to  get  in  action  so 


88  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

quickly  or  remain  in  action  so  long  as  the  flash-ranging  sections 
whose  equipment  was  lighter  and  could  be  more  quickly  set 
up  than  that  of  the  sound-rangers. 

Sound-ranging  was  a  oroduct  of  the  recent  war.  Whether 
it  will  prove  useful  in  furure  wars  is  an  open  question  but  its 
usefulness  to  the  Allies  in  the  recent  war  was  beyond  question 
for,  due  to  it,  they  possessed  a  marked  advantage  over  their 
enemy  in  being  able  to  locate  and  silence  hostile  batteries  under 
conditions  where  all  other  means  failed. 


VI 
WAR-TIME  PHOTOGRAPHY 

HERBERT  E.  IVES 

i 

BEFORE  the  great  war,  photography  had  figured  but 
little  as  a  military  aid.  It  was  used  principally  for  making 
records ;  pictures  of  men  and  equipment,  camps  and  battlefields, 
as  in  the  famous  Brady  photographs  of  our  Civil  War.  In 
quite  recent  wars  some  actual  views  of  battles  while  in  progress 
have  been  produced,  with  men  and  artillery  in  action.  These 
were  made  possible  by  the  practical  development  of  instantane- 
ous photography,  and  were  due  to  the  enterprize  of  the  news- 
paper photographer  catering  to  a  public  accustomed  to  get  its 
news  as  much  through  photographs  as  through  headlines.  But 
the  use  of  photography  as  an  essential  to  the  preparation  as 
well  as  to  the  carrying  out  of  military  tactics  is  a  development 
of  the  last  war,  as  peculiar  to  it  as  is  the  development  of  the 
airplane.  It  is  in  fact  in  the  airplane  that  the  photographic 
camera  has  developed  from  a  mere  recorder  of  minor  aspects  of 
battles  already  lost  or  won,  into  the  chief  guide  to  their  fighting 
and  a  really  important  military  weapon.  Any  account  of  war- 
time photography  must  therefore  be  devoted  largely  to  this 
newest  form,  photography  from  the  air. 

But  we  must  not  infer,  because  airplane  photography 
has  completely  outdistanced  all  other  kinds  in  military  applica- 
tion, that  the  services  of  the  less  novel  forms  of  photography 
have  been  small.  On  the  contrary,  the  use  of  photography  for 
securing  records,  for  instruction,  and  in  apparatus  for  the  most 
diverse  purposes  —  for  instance  in  the  sound-ranging  of  big 
guns  —  has  been  on  a  scale  that  would  have  warranted  remark 

89 


90  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

merely  from  the  standpoint  of  the  magnitude  of  the  service 
rendered.  By  way  of  record  of  American  participation  in  the 
war  we  have  photographs  showing  every  structure  erected  in 
France,  beginning  with  the  docks  of  debarkation,  and  leading 
on  up  to  gun  emplacements  at  the  front.  All  the  details  of 
modern  warfare  are  preserved  for  future  information  and 
instruction;  how  trenches  are  built,  how  barbed  wire  is  wound 
and  supported,  how  telephone  lines  are  strung,  how  gas  attacks 
are  launched  and  met,  how  guns  are  camouflaged.  Thanks  to 
photography  there  can  henceforth  be  no  excuse  for  ignorance 
of  the  full  meaning  of  waging  war. 

The  most  novel  feature  of  this  record  work  is  probably  the 
use  of  the  moving  picture,  which  has  practically  come  into  being 
since  the  Spanish  War  and  the  Boer  War.  Through  its  use 
vivid  records  of  all  military  operations  are  available  in  our  war 
colleges  for  instruction  and  study.  Preparation,  training,  and 
even  "  going  over  the  top  "  are  all  faithfully  delineated.  Just 
as  in  the  industries  moving  pictures  are  furnishing  the  most 
valuable  records  of  construction  methods  and  operations,  so 
it  has  been  in  the  war.  Take,  for  instance,  that  real  epic  in 
cinematography,  the  story  of  the  1 4-inch  naval  guns;  the  con- 
struction of  their  railway  mountings  in  Philadelphia,  their 
transportation  across  the  ocean,  their  assembly  at  a  French 
port,  their  cautious  creeping  over  French  railway  bridges,  their 
detours  around  the  too  short  French  tunnels,  until  finally  we 
see  them  in  action  against  the  Metz-Meziers  railway.  It  may 
well  be  questioned  whether  the  only  adequate  history  of  the 
war  will  not  after  all  be  the  photographic  one. 

Other  war-time  uses  of  moving  pictures  must  not  be  over- 
looked. Instruction  in  the  use  of  machine  guns,  trench  mor- 
tars, even  in  the  handling  of  an  airplane,  has  been  made  more 
vivid  and  more  interesting,  and  so  more  easily  grasped  by  the 
student  when  given  through  clever  moving  pictures.  And  their 
help  in  keeping  up  the  morale  of  the  men  by  supplying  healthful 
amusement  must  by  no  means  be  forgotten,  with  a  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
budget  for  moving  pictures  of  nearly  two  and  a  half  millions. 


WAR-TIME  PHOTOGRAPHY  91 

Of  the  many  applications  of  photography  to  military  instruc- 
tion one  of  the  most  striking  and  novel  is  the  '*  camera  gun." 
devised  to  train  aviators  in  machine  gun  marksmanship.  As  at 
first  worked  out  this  consisted  merely  of  a  camera  mounted 
on  the  machine  gun  support  and  capable  of  one  exposure  at  a 
time.  As  finally  improved  and  produced  by  an  American 
manufacturer,  this  consists  of  a  camera  attachment  to  the 
Lewis  gun  which  copies  in  every  respect  the  behavior  of  the 
gun  itself.  Not  only  may  single  exposures  be  made  but  even 
"  bursts,"  if  the  trigger  is  held  back.  On  the  pictures  is 
impressed  a  target,  to  show  how  nearly  the  aim  was  correct, 
while  in  the  latest  form  a  clock  dial  is  incorporated,  so  that 
when  two  aviators  return  from  practice,  they  have  a  complete 
record  not  only  of  the  number  of  hits,  but  also  of  who  made 
the  first ''kill." 

The  chief  photographic  novelty  of  the  war,  aerial  photog- 
raphy, owes  its  existence  and  rapid  development  both  to  the 
extensive  use  of  the  airplane,  and  at  the  same  time  to  the  very 
limitations  of  the  plane.  The  chief  function  of  the  airplane 
is  reconnaissance,  the  gathering  of  information  on  enemy  mili- 
tary dispositions  and  movements ;  and  it  is  this  new  all-em- 
bracing point  of  view  which  the  air  gives  that  has  enabled  the 
airplane  to  well-nigh  revolutionise  warfare.  But  it  was  early 
found  that  the  human  eye  was  quite  unequal  to  the  opportuni- 
ties presented  by  the  plane.  More  could  be  seen  in  a  single 
glance  downward  than  could  possibly  be  remembered.  Then 
later,  as  the  flying  was  driven  higher,  the  magnification  given 
by  the  unaided  eye  was  insufficient ;  the  use  of  camouflage  made 
necessary  minute  study  of  the  view ;  and  last  but  not  least,  the 
attention  of  the  observer  had  to  be  given  more  and  more  to  the 
military  duty  of  defending  the  plane  against  "  the  Hun  in 
the  sun."  All  of  these  problems  were  met  in  a  truly  ideal 
manner  by  the  use  of  photography.  A  single  exposure  with  a 
long-focus  camera  produces  a  record  faithfully  depicting  in  an 
instant  every  detail  of  a  large  area  in  a  form  eminently  suitable 
for  study  and  general  dissemination.  From  being  a  happy 


92  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

experiment,  aerial  photography  grew  to  be  one  of  the  main 
activities  of  the  air  forces.  The  war  had  not  been  in  progress 
a  year  before  the  aerial  photograph  was  the  indispensable  guide 
to  all  military  operations.  Enemy  lines  were  completely  photo- 
graphed each  day  or  even  oftener.  Negatives  to  the  number 
of  scores  of  thousands  were  made  every  month  by  the  Allied 
armies,  and  from  these,  toward  the  end,  half  a  million  prints  (in 
round  numbers)  were  distributed  each  week  to  intelligence  offi- 
cers, to  artillery  headquarters,  even  to  infantry  company  com- 
manders to  guide  them  in  their  local  operations.  So  searching 
indeed  did  aerial  photography  become  that  as  the  war  drew  to  a 
close  all  troop  movements  had  to  be  made  at  night  or  under 
cover  of  bad  weather.  Elaborate  attempts  to  camouflage  bat- 
teries and  fixed  structures  against  the  eye  of  the  camera  were 
met  by  the  development  of  a  corps  of  experts  in  a  new  art,  the 
interpretation  of  aerial  photographs. 

The  technical  problems  to  be  solved  in  the  development  of 
photography  from  the  air  were  numerous.1  Practically  every 
resource  of  scientific  photography  had  to  be  pressed  into  service 
and  carried  to  further  development  by  intensive  research  before 
aerial  photographs  with  the  necessary  quality  were  procurable. 
As  might  be  surmised,  the  foremost  problems  to  be  met  were 
those  introduced  by  the  altitude,  the  speed,  and  the  vibration 
of  the  new  camera  platform.  The  great  altitudes  reached  by 
army  reconnaissance  flying  —  18,000  to  20,000  feet  —  brought 
demands  for  lenses  of  very  long  focus  and  for  combinations 
of  sensitive  plate  and  color  filter  to  pierce  the  layer  of  haze 
almost  always  present  on  the  earth's  surface.  The  speed  of  the 
battle  plane,  sometimes  as  high  as  150  miles  an  hour,  when 
considered  with  respect  to  the  earth,  demanded  lenses  of  large 
aperture  and  shutters  capable  of  giving  extremely  short  ex- 
posures in  order  to  prevent  blurring  due  to  the  motion  of  the 
image.  The  vibration  from  the  engine  necessitated  not  only 

1  For  a  comprehensive  account  of  the  technical  aspects  of  aerial 
photography  see  "Airplane  Photography,"  by  the  present  writer,  pub- 
lished by  J.  B.  Lippincott  &  Co. 


WAR-TIME  PHOTOGRAPHY  93 

short  exposures  but  adequate  anti-vibration  mounting  of  the 
camera. 

Before  taking  up  these  problems  one  by  one,  let  us  look  at 
the  various  types  of  photograph  required.  The  simplest  picture 
of  all  is  produced  by  the  process  called  "  spotting,"  which  con- 
sists in  taking  a  single  photograph  of  some  important  detail, 
such  as  a  trench  or  a  battery.  (Figure  i.)  Pictures  of  this  sort 
were  usually  made  with  as  long-focus  lenses  as  possible,  in 
order  to  secure  large  magnification.  For  this  purpose  cameras 
of  as  great  focal  length  as  120  centimeters  figured  as  a  regular 
part  of  aerial  photographic  equipment. 

Next  come  strip  or  mosaic  maps  made  by  a  series  of  succes- 
sive exposures,  at  such  intervals  as  to  overlap  by  a  quarter 
or  a  third  of  their  length.  These  photographs  showed  trenches, 
railways,  large  manufacturing  plants,  or  other  extended  areas 
of  military  importance.  (Figure  2.)1 

Both  these  types  of  picture  were  *'  verticals,"  that  is,  made 
with  the  camera  pointing  directly  downward  through  the  floor 
of  the  plane.  "  Obliques  "  were  pictures  taken  with  the  camera 
at  an  angle.  At  first  made  with  hand-held  cameras,  these  were 
later  taken  by  cameras  slung  in  the  plane  at  the  desired  inclina- 
tion. Obliques  closely  resemble  views  made  from  high  build- 
ings. They  show  what  the  verticals  do  not,  the  elevations  and 
depressions  of  the  terrain,  and  because  of  the  natural  appear- 
ance presented  by  objects  so  photographed  and  because  of  their 
ease  of  interpretation,  they  were  of  great  value  during  the 
preparation  for  local  attacks. 

Last  of  all  come  a  class  of  pictures  which  may  probably  be 
claimed  as  an  entirely  new  development  due  to  the  war.  These 
are  aerial  stereoscopic  views,  produced  not  with  two  lenses 
separated  by  the  distance  of  the  eyes  apart,  as  are  ordinary 
stereograms,  a  method  which,  at  flying  altitudes,  would  give 
practically  no  relief,  but  with  a  single  camera  taking  successive 
exposures  separated  sometimes  by  a  few  seconds,  often  by  a 

1  Acknowledgement  is  made  to  the  Air  Service  of  the  United  States 
Army  for  figures  2  and  3. 


94  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

goodly  fraction  of  a  minute.  The  result  is  a  pair  of  pictures 
with  points  of  view  so  separated  that  the  stereogram  when 
placed  in  the  stereoscope  presents  the  earth  as  it  would  be  seen 
by  a  giant  with  a  head  a  hundred  feet  or  more  in  width,  that  is, 
with  all  the  elevations  and  depressions  showing  in  magnificent 
relief.  Stereo  aerial  views,  both  verticals  and  obliques,  were 
of  the  greatest  importance  in  the  detection  of  irregularities  of 
level,  in  differentiating  shell  holes  from  "  pill  boxes,"  and  in 
piercing  the  devices  of  the  camoufleur. 

The  airplane  camera  required  merely  for  spotting  is  a  com- 
paratively simple  affair.  No  provision  is  needed  for  focussing 
since  the  objects  to  be  photographed  are  always  at  photographic- 
ally infinite  distance.  All  that  is  necessary  is  a  lens,  a  box  as 
little  subject  to  expansion  and  contraction  as  possible  in  the 
extremes  of  temperature  met  from  ground  to  upper  air,  a 
shutter,  and  a  plate  holder.  These  essentials  of  an  aerial 
camera,  lens,  shutter  and  plate,  may  profitably  be  considered  in 
detail  before  touching  on  the  more  complicated  types  of  camera 
demanded  by  mapping  or  by  stereoscopic  photography. 

The  lens  should  be  of  the  anastigmatic  type,  covering  a  large 
flat  field  with  microscopic  definition,  and  should  have  the  largest 
possible  aperture,  preferably  not  less  than  F/4.5.  Lenses  meet- 
ing these  requirements  had  already  been  developed  before  the 
war  and  were  in  fairly  common  use  for  the  smaller  sizes  and 
foci  (up  to  8  inch),  but  almost  exclusively  as  a  German  product, 
due  to  the  Jena  optical  industries.  As  a  temporary  measure, 
all  available  lenses  of  this  kind  were  commandeered  by  the 
Allies  for  aerial  use.  Soon,  however,  flying  was  forced  to 
10,000  feet  and  over,  and  the  pictures  obtained  with  such  lenses 
were  too  small.  This  fault  was  partially  met  in  the  British 
service  by  the  regular  practice  of  making  enlarged  prints  from 
their  standard  4x5  inch  negatives.  But  this  was  not  nearly  so 
satisfactory  as  the  process  of  contact  printing  from  negatives 
secured  by  long-focus  lenses.  The  efforts  of  the  Allied  lens 
manufacturers  were,  therefore,  directed  toward  the  production 
of  lenses  of  a  standard  focus  of  50  centimeters,  capable  of 


Figure    i.     Example   of   airplane   photograph.     Trenches,    concrete 
dugouts  and  machine  gun  emplacements  along  the  Yser  River 


Figure  2.     The  method  of  building  up  a  mosaic  map  from  a  large 
number   of   overlapping   serial    photographs 


View    taken    at    10,000    feet  altitude,  without  color  filter 


Similar  view  taken  at  the  same  time  on  color  sensitive  plate  through 
yellow    filter,    showing  penetration   of    haze 

Figure  3 
COLOR   FILTERS    IN   AERIAL   PHOTOGRAPHY 


WAR-TIME  PHOTOGRAPHY  95 

covering  a  plate  18  x  24  centimeters  in  size.  Their  problem 
lay  chiefly  in  securing  optical  glass,  of  which  the  Germans  had 
almost  a  monopoly. 

The  optical  glass  problem  is  one  which  the  Allies  collectively 
did  solve,  but  in  so  far  as  the  dense  barium  crown  glass  required 
for  modern  photographic  lenses  is  concerned,  the  greatest  suc- 
cess was  attained  by  the  French  and  English,  the  latter  indeed 
now  bidding  fair  to  oust  the  Germans  from  their  primacy  in 
the  optical  industries.  While  the  American  optical  glass 
development  did  not  succeed  in  producing  the  greatly  desired 
dense  barium  crown,  American  manufacturers  were  able  to 
utilize  some  substitute  glass,  and,  by  using  English  glass,  de- 
veloped new  lens  formulae  admirably  adapted  to  aerial  use, 
so  that  lenses  in  satisfactory  quantities  were  produced  of  50 
centimeters  focus,  of  aperture  F/6. 

It  is  one  of  the  severe  limitations  of  airplane  photography 
(but  not  of  photography  from  dirigibles)  that  all  exposures  must 
be  strictly  instantaneous.  Calculation  shows  that  the  condi- 
tions are  rare  when  a  speed  of  less  than  i/ioo  of  a  second 
may  be  used  without  fatal  blurring.  And  the  faster  the  plane, 
and  the  lower  it  flies,  the  faster  does  the  image  move  on  the 
plate,  and  the  quicker  must  the  shutter  act. 

The  common  type  of  shutter  used  on  the  smaller  commercial 
cameras,  situated  between  the  lens  elements,  was  not  suitable 
for  airplane  use,  because  it  could  not  be  made  in  large, sizes; 
nor  was  it  at  all  efficient  at  high  speeds.  There  was,  however, 
already  at  hand  the  focal  plane  shutter,  a  rapidly  moving 
slotted  curtain,  traveling  close  to  the  plate,  originally  developed 
for  the  photography  of  rapidly  moving  objects  on  the  earth's 
surface,  such  as  race  horses  and  automobiles.  With  very  few 
exceptions  all  aerial  cameras  were  equipped  with  shutters  of 
this  type.  But  the  existing  designs  were  found  to  be  defective 
in  many  respects.  The  speeds  developed  were  insufficient ;  4 
the  means  for  varying  speed  were  inadequate.  Most  common 
of  all,  the  speed  was  greatly  different  at  the  beginning  and  at 
the  end  of  the  travel  across  the  large  plates  used,  so  that  strip 


96  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

or  mosaic  maps  would  be  grossly  uneven  at  the  junction  of  their 
constituent  prints. 

Here,  as  in  many  other  cases,  the  severe  requirements  set  by 
this  new  form  of  photography  led  to  intensive  study,  resulting 
in  detail  improvements  which  have  reacted  to  the  advancement 
of  photography  as  a  whole.  Improved  designs  were  worked 
out,  in  particular  one  by  the  American  Air  Service,  which 
resulted  in  giving  speed  and  regulation  of  speed  much  beyond 
anything  heretofore  attained. 

The  sensitive  plate  is,  of  course,  the  crux  of  the  photographic 
problem.  Needless  to  say,  high  speed  is  essential  in  aerial 
work.  Careful  research  developed,  however,  that  mere  speed, 
as  ordinarily  measured,  is  not  alone  sufficient.  Aerial  views 
are  apt  to  be  much  under-exposed,  and  in  addition  there  is  but 
small  contrast  of  brightness  in  objects  on  the  haze-covered 
earth.  Consequently  it  is  desirable  to  have  a  photographic 
emulsion  that  will  develop  as  much  contrast  as  possible,  with 
short  exposures  —  a  combination  of  qualities  not  usually  found. 

In  addition  to  speed  and  contrast  requirements  comes  the 
very  important  one  of  color  sensitiveness.  Photography  from 
high  altitudes  means  photography  through  a  thick  layer  of  aerial 
haze.  Because  of  its  general  bluish  color,  this  haze  appears 
much  thicker  to  the  blue-sensitive  photographic  plate  than  it  is 
to  the  naked  eye.  To  pierce  this  haze  it  is  imperative  to  use 
color  filters  of  a  general  yellow  hue,  and  with  these  it  is  neces- 
sary to  employ  plates  sensitive  to  green,  yellow  and  red.  The 
Germans  used  very  generally  a  plate  of  extraordinary  green 
sensitiveness,  greatly  superior  in  that  respect  to  anything  pro- 
duced by  the  French  or  the  English.  This  plate  one  of  the 
American  manufacturers  was  able  to  match  and  indeed  to  sur- 
pass, thus  producing  what  was  undoubtedly  the  best  orthochro- 
matic  plate  used  in  the  war. 

Probably  the  greatest  achievement  in  photographic  plate 
making  during  the  period  of  the  war  was  the  production  of  a 
new  panchromatic  (sensitive  to  all  colors)  plate  by  one  of  the 
English  manufacturers,  using  new  sensitizers  developed  by 


WAR-TIME  PHOTOGRAPHY  97 

Professor  Pope  of  Cambridge.  These  plates  possess  the 
unusual  characteristic  of  being  more  sensitive  to  red  than  to 
blue  light,  and  possess  at  the  same  time  unusually  high  speed. 
Produced  first  in  the  spring  of  1918  these  plates  proved  a  God- 
send to  the  Allied  aerial  photographers  in  the  dull  days  of  the 
last  great  offensive,  when  the  plates  formerly  employed  by 
them  were  only  usable  a  few  hours  near  noon. 

Closely  connected  with  the  matter  of  color  sensitiveness  in 
the  plate  is  the  question  of  color  filters,  to  pierce  the  veil  of 
haze  characteristic  of  the  view  from  high  altitudes.  How 
important  is  the  use  of  a  filter  is  shown  in  Figure  3,  where 
the  picture  taken  at  10,000  feet  without  a  filter  is  quite  use- 
less, while  its  companion,  taken  at  the  same  time  but  with  a 
filter,  shows  the  roads,  trees,  and  other  details  clearly.  Here 
again  the  Germans  were  at  an  advantage  both  because  of  their 
mastery  of  the  manufacture  of  colored  glass  and  also  because 
of  their  well-developed  dye  industry.  In  this  connection  it  is 
to  be  noted  that  the  ordinary  yellow  filter  intended  to  produce 
orthochromatic  effects  is  not  what  is  required  to  pierce  haze. 
The  requirement  here  is  for  a  comparatively  abrupt  absorption 
of  the  blue  of  the  spectrum,  which  will  cut  down  the  green 
but  little  and  so  leave  the  filter  as  efficient  as  possible. 

The  problem  of  producing  filters  of  the  required  efficiency, 
through  which  the  exposure  would  not  have  to  be  increased 
more  than  two  or  three  times,  was  completely  solved  for  the 
American  Air  Service  by  two  developments.  The  first  was 
a  yellow  glass  produced  by  a  leading  glass  manufacturer,  and 
the  second  a  new  dye,  the  "  EK  "  (from  the  name  of  the  com- 
pany in  whose  laboratory  it  was  developed)  with  which  gelatin 
discs  were  dyed  and  afterward  mounted  between  glass  plates 
to  form  a  highly  satisfactory  filter. 

The  simple  camera  above  described,  which  sufficed  for  spot- 
ting, was  subject  to  many  improvements  aimed  at  simplifying 
its  manipulation,  increasing  the  speed  of  operation,  enlarging 
its  plate  capacity,  and  —  a  vital  point  in  the  military  plane  — 
making  its  operation  as  independent  as  possible  of  the  attention 


98  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

of  pilot  and  observer,  leaving  them  free  for  other  duties.  Plate 
magazines,  carrying  from  six  to  a  dozen  plates,  operated  by  a 
simple  to-and-fro  motion  shifting  the  exposed  plate  behind  the 
pile  of  unexposed,  were  generally  used  by  the  French  and 
Germans.  The  English  early  designed  and  used  to  the  end  a 
system  of  two  magazines,  one  above  the  camera  containing  the 
unexposed  plates,  another  to  one  side  and  lower,  over  which 
the  exposed  plate  was  shifted  and  allowed  to  drop.  Cameras 
of  this  type,  known  as  the  "  C  "  and  "  E,"  operated  by  hand, 
were  ultimately  followed  by  the  "  L,"  in  which  the  operation 
of  shifting  the  plate  and  setting  the  shutter  was  performed 
by  a  wind  propeller.  In  this  "  semi-automatic "  camera  the 
pilot  or  observer  had  merely  to  pull  the  exposing  lever  at  the 
appropriate  instant,  after  which  the  camera  set  itself  ready  for 
the  next  exposure.  These  cameras,  using  4x5  inch  plates, 
formed  the  greater  part  of  the  equipment  of  the  English  Air 
Service,  and  close  copies  were  manufactured  and  used  in  large 
quantities  in  the  training  of  some  thousands  of  American  aerial 
photographers. 

The  demand  for  completely  automatic  plate  cameras,  which 
would  require  no  attention  save  starting  and  stopping,  was 
perhaps  most  nearly  met  by  the  French  de  Ram  camera.  In 
this  was  embodied  a  rotating  magazine  containing  50  plates, 
the  lower  one  of  which  was  exposed,  dropped  off  and  picked 
up  by  the  top  of  the  magazine  as  it  rotated.  Cameras  of  this 
general  design  were  under  construction  in  considerable  numbers 
in  America  at  the  close  of  the  war,  and  promised  to  be  the  most 
complete  and  satisfactory  plate  camera  yet  devised. 

A  serious  limitation  to  all  plate  cameras  for  aerial  use  lies 
in  their  weight  and  bulk.  Thus  the  de  Ram  camera  above 
described  weighs,  with  its  load  of  plates,  about  100  pounds,  and 
stands  over  three  feet  high.  Such  a  weight  seriously  interferes 
with  the  balance  and  ceiling  of  the  ordinary  two-passenger 
reconnaissance  plane,  and  is  quite,  out  of  the  question  as  an 
extra  load  in  a  single-seater  scout.  This  matter  of  weight  and 
space  became  so  aggravated  by  the  general  adoption  of  50 


WAR-TIME  PHOTOGRAPHY  99 

centimeter  focus  lenses  and  18  x  24  centimeter  plates  that 
intensive  study  was  turned  toward  the  possibilities  of  celluloid 
film  in  roll  form.  This,  from  its  lightness  and  small  bulk, 
would  appear  to  be  the  ideal  medium  for  aerial  photography. 

Several  interesting  problems  were  met  with  in  the  develop- 
ment of  aerial  film  cameras.  One  was  that  of  holding  the  large 
film  flat  during  the  exposure.  This  was  met  in  several  different 
ways.  One  method  was  to  use  a  glass  plate  pressed  against 
the  films,  and  since  the  plate  was  made  of  yellow  glass,  it  could 
at  the  same  time  be  utilized  as  a  color  filter.  Another  method 
is  the  use  of  suction  through  holes  in  the  camera  back,  the 
suction  being  produced  by  pump,  Venturi  tube,  or  bellows. 

Another  problem  of  some  seriousness  was  caused  by  the 
production  of  static  electricity  from  the  friction  of  the  celluloid 
film  against  the  camera  parts.  This  is  especially  frequent  at 
high  altitudes,  in  cold  dry  air.  It  results  in  tree-like  discharges 
across  the  face  of  the  film,  easily  mistaken  for  trenches  or 
paths,  if  indeed  they  do  not  obliterate  the  whole  picture.  This 
is  a  trouble  which  used  to  occur  in  moving  picture  cameras, 
to  be  finally  met  by  metal  construction  and  by  grounding  the 
apparatus  —  the  latter  an  expedient  not  permitted  in  the  air- 
plane. After  considerable  experimentation  it  was  found  that 
this  trouble  could  be  entirely  overcome  by  covering  the  suction- 
back  with  coarse  grained  cloth  impregnated  with  graphite, 
whereby  the  fibers  were  turned  into  small  electrically  conduct- 
ing paths,  leading  off  the  electric  charges  as  soon  as  formed. 

The  film  camera  embodying  these  features  promised  in  time 
to  supersede  the  plate  camera  for  aerial  work,  although  it  did 
not  materialize  in  time  to  be  actually  used  in  the  great  war. 
The  chief  outstanding  problem  in  the  use  of  the  film  is  pre- 
sented by  its  development,  washing  and  drying  in  the  huge 
rolls  of  100  or  200  exposures  which  it  was  expected  would  be 
needed  for  reconnaissance  work.  Special  mobile  photographic 
laboratories,  consisting  of  truck-and-trailer  dark  and  printing 
rooms  were  already  part  of  the  regular  photographic  section 
outfit  at  the  front,  equipped  to  develop  plates  in  a  few  minutes 


ioo  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

after  their  delivery  and  to  furnish  thousands  of  prints  over 
night.  With  the  advent  of  the  film  camera  an  additional  trailer 
equipped  with  a  special  film-developing  machine  was  planned. 
It  is  indeed  probable  that  had  the  war  continued  much  longer 
the  automobile  photographic  train  might  have  been  supple- 
mented by  railway  photographic  laboratories,  so  extensive  had 
photographic  operations  become. 

The  proper  mounting  of  the  camera  in  the  plane  is  of  prime 
importance.  The  first  cameras  were  held  in  the  hands,  but 
this  soon  became  impossible,  due  both  to  the  size  of  the  cameras, 
and  to  the  airman's  need  for  freedom  to  handle  machine  gun 
and  radio.  Cameras  were  next  "  screwed  "  to  the  framework 
of  the  fuselage,  a  method  of  support  which  proved  quite  un- 
satisfactory, as  half  the  pictures  would  be  ruined  by  the  vibra- 
tion set  up  by  the  engine.  Following  this,  various  supports 
of  rubber  and  springs  were  devised  along  more  or  less  scientific 
lines,  a  chronic  difficulty  being  the  inadequate  space  available 
for  the  camera  and  mounting. 

Finally  an  accurate  method  of  study  and  test  was  developed 
in  the  English  Air  Service,  on  the  basis  of  which  eminently 
satisfactory  mountings  have  been  devised.  This  method  con- 
sists in  flying  over  a  light  on  the  ground,  either  at  night  (or  else 
by  day,  with  the  light  located  in  a  dense  wood),  the  shutter 
of  the  camera  being  left  open.  There  is  thus  obtained  on  the 
plate  a  trail,  smooth  if  the  camera  is  steady,  wavy  if  it  is 
vibrating.  By  means  of  a  second  intermittent  light,  flickering 
at  known  speed,  the  duration  of  each  kink  in  the  curve  may  be 
learned,  and  the  suitability  of  the  mounting  evaluated  accord- 
ingly. 

Comprehensive  tests  of  all  kinds  of  mountings,  supporting 
the  camera  at  the  bottom,  at  the  top,  loosely  and  tightly,  show 
conclusively  that  the  best  form  of  mounting  is  that  which  sup- 
ports the  camera  in  the  plane  of  its  center  of  gravity  (which 
should  not  change  as  the  camera  operates),  the  supporting  parts 
being  bedded  in  soft  rubber  or  springs. 

After  the  aerial  picture  is  obtained  comes  the  question  of  its 


WAR-TIME  PHOTOGRAPHY  101 

interpretation.  At  the  best  of  times  the  vertical  view  presents 
all  objects  in  an  unfamiliar  aspect,  while  in  modern  warfare 
the  arts  of  camouflage  are  enlisted  to  render  interpretation 
harder  yet.  In  aerial  photography  the  greatest  foes  to  camou- 
flage are  stereoscopic  pictures,  and  the  fact  that  the  photo- 
graphic plate  is  differently  sensitive  to  colors  than  is  the  human 
eye.  Thus  often  gun  coverings  and  concealed  dugouts,  not 
noticeable  by  the  observer  as  he  flies  over,  show  clearly  in 
the  photograph  he  brings  back,  since  the  camouflage  paint  is  a 
visual  but  not  a  photographic  match  with  its  surroundings. 
Camouflaging  pigments  had,  therefore,  to  be  tested  photo- 
graphically, and  in  turn  plates  and  color  filters  were  sought 
which  would  defeat  the  efforts  of  the  enemy  camoufleur. 

The  every  day  problem  of  the  interpreter  of  photographs  was 
to  detect  changes  of  any  sort  —  the  substitution  of  artificial 
trees  with  concealed  listening  posts  for  real  trees ;  the  removal 
of  sod  to  be  used  elsewhere  for  camouflage.  For  this  purpose 
photographs  made  on  different  days  were  laboriously  compared, 
side  by  side.  Even  when  this  was  done,  minute  but  important 
changes  would  be  missed,  a  common  failure  which  led  to  several 
proposals  to  facilitate  such  comparisons.  One  was  the  use  of 
the  "  blink  microscope  "  in  which  the  two  pictures  were  viewed 
successively  in  the  same  position,  any  change  showing  as  a  flut- 
tering or  blinking  in  the  scene.  In  another  ingenious  scheme, 
adapted  from  the  astronomical  method  of  searching  for  moving 
asteroids,  a  positive  made  from  one  negative  is  laid  over  a  nega- 
tive of  the  same  subject  made  at  another  time.  If  no  change 
has  taken  place  the  two  merge  to  a  neutral  gray.  If  any- 
thing in  the  view  has  moved,  it  stands  out  in  striking  contrast 
with  the  undisturbed  parts. 

In  this  brief  sketch  of  war-time  photography  chief  emphasis 
has  been  laid  on  the  contribution  of  photography  to  the  winning 
of  the  war.  Reciprocally  the  demands  of  war  have  worked  to 
advance  to  no  inconsiderable  degree  the  science  of  photography. 
This  will  be  manifested,  if  in  no  other  way,  in  the  production 
of  photographic  apparatus  of  greater  accuracy  and  reliability 


102  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

of  performance.  The  impetus  given  to  research  by  the  quest 
for  emulsions  of  greater  speed  and  sensitiveness  has  already 
resulted  in  unexpected  progress,  and  this  research  may  be 
relied  upon  to  bring  forth  even  greater  improvements.  The 
addition  of  an  entire  new  department  —  aerial  photography  — 
is  undoubtedly  the  greatest  advance  due  to  the  war.  It  opens 
up  a  new  territory,  and  appears  destined,  quite  apart  from  its 
wide  pictorial  uses,  to  enormous  usefulness  in  mapping.  It 
promises  indeed  quite  to  revolutionize  our  present  methods  of 
charting  the  earth's  surface. 


VII 

OPTICAL  GLASS  FOR  WAR  NEEDS 
HARRISON  E.  HOWE 

THE  optical-glass  problem,  so  far  as  the  United  States  was 
concerned,  can  be  simply  stated.  Large  quantities  of 
dependable  quality  were  required  immediately,  the  varieties 
being  limited  to  a  half  dozen  or  so  necessary  for  military 
optical  instruments.  It  should  be  understood  that  by  optical 
glass  is  meant  that  type  of  glass  which  is  so  made  that  its 
physical  characteristics  may  be  controlled  within  rather  narrow 
limits,  so  that  it  is  suitable  for  the  exacting  requirements  of 
photographic  lenses,  range  finders,  spotting  telescopes,  binocu- 
lars, periscopes,  gun  sights,  and  similar  modern  warfare 
requisites. 

In  order  t1  at  the  complexity  and  magnitude  of  this  problem 
may  be  more  clearly  understood,  it  will  be  well  to  examine 
briefly  the  history  of  its  development  elsewhere  and  understand 
the  condition  which  prevailed  in  our  country  prior  to 
August,  1914. 

Prior  to  1886  the  glass  makers  were  offering  a  very  limited 
variety  of  optical  glass  to  the  makers  of  refracting  instruments, 
and  the  perfection  of  the  various  microscopes,  telescopes,  etc., 
was  necessarily  limited  to  the  possibilities  presented  —  a  few 
crown  and  flint  glasses.  The  possibility  had  been  established 
of  combining  two  lenses  made  from  the  available  glasses  into  a 
doublet  so  as  to  bring  pairs  of  colors  to  a  common  focus  on  the 
optical  axis  of  the  lens,  thereby  diminishing  chromatic  aberra- 
tion. Means  to  render  the  image  almost  entirely  free  of 
spherical  aberration  had  also  been  devised,  but  no  attempts  were 

103 


104  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

made  to  introduce  new  glass  fluxes,  and  effort  was  expended 
only  in  perfecting  technical  manipulation  and  adding  to  the  list 
of  dense  flints. 

To  this  state  of  affairs  there  were,  however,  a  few  notable 
exceptions :  Frauenhof  er,  the  German  optician ;  Faraday,  the 
great  investigator;  and  Harcourt,  an  English  clergyman. 
Frauenhofer  succeeded  in  finding  glass  which  showed  a  diminu- 
tion of  the  secondary  spectrum,  but  the  new  glass  was  not 
produced  on  a  commercial  basis  and  the  formula  was  unfor- 
tunately completely  lost.  In  1825  Faraday  was  appointed  by 
the  Royal  Society,  together  with  Sir  John  Herschel  and  Mr. 
Dolland,  on  a  committee  to  examine,  and  if  possible,  to  improve 
the  manufacture  of  optical  glass.  The  results  of  the  systematic 
and  very  exhaustive  experiments  were  reported,  minutely  by 
Faraday  in  1829,  and  although  glass  so  found  did  not  prove  to 
be  of  important  practical  use,  yet  the  work  performed  had 
much  directional  influence  on  subsequent  researches. 

Harcourt  could  not  obtain  from  his  small  meltings  pieces  of 
sufficient  size  and  perfection  to  permit  a  complete  spectrometric 
analysis,  and  lacking  information  which  could  be  gained  only 
with  the  spectrometer,  his  subsequent  work  suffered  for  want  of 
guiding  experience.  However,  these  researches  were  not 
entirely  in  vain,  since  certain  facts  were  established  relating  to 
the  effect  of  some  chemical  elements  upon  the  refraction  of 
light. 

Until  the  late  seventies  silicon,  sodium,  potassium,  calcium, 
lead,  and  oxygen  had  been  the  only  elements  used,  excepting 
perhaps  alumina  and  thallium  in  an  experimental  way.  Crown 
and  flint  glasses  were  being  produced  of  a  far  better  quality 
as  regards  clearness,  freedom  of  color,  and  homogeneity,  and 
flint  of  far  greater  refractive  power  and  dispersion,  than  had 
been  offered  up  to  this  time. 

In  the  late  seventies  Professor  Ernest  Abbe  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Jena  published  a  paper  on  the  microscope,  in  which  he 
made  an  appeal  to  scientists  to  take  up  the  improvement  of 
optical  glass,  and  pointed  out  that  scientific  instruments  were  in 


OPTICAL  GLASS  FOR  WAR  NEEDS  105 

a  state  of  arrested  development  awaiting  the  perfection  of  glass 
which  would  offer  a  greater  diversity  in  mean  index,  and  mean 
dispersion,  and  render  possible  a  higher  degree  of  achromatism, 
thus  diminishing  the  secondary  spectrum.  This  plea  attracted 
the  attention  of  Otto  Schott,  and  after  communicating  with 
Abbe,  the  two  began  an  investigation  of  the  problems,  and 
started  first  of  all  to  determine  the  chemical-physical  principles 
underlying  the  making  of  optical  glass.  In  experimenting  with 
various  combinations  of  elements  new  to  the  glass  industry, 
several  limitations  had  to  be  borne  in  mind.  First,  the  flux 
must  not  act  upon  the  material  of  the  crucible  and  so  absorb 
impurities.  Second,  elements  which  evaporate  during  the 
process  tend  to  produce  veins  and  must  not  be  used.  Third, 
cloudiness,  crystallization,  and  bubbles  must  be  avoided  in  the 
process  of  melting,  cooling,  and  subsequent  re-heating.  Fourth, 
it  must  be  possible  to  bring  the  glass  from  the  plastic  to  the 
solid  state  without  producing  stress.  Fifth,  glass  must  not  be 
tarnishable  or  hygroscopic.  Sixth,  it  must  be  colorless  and 
physically  strong  enough  to  bear  the  manipulation  necessary  in 
grinding  and  polishing. 

Beside  silicic  acid,  the  only  glass-making  acids  were  boric 
acid  and  phosphoric  acid  and  perhaps  arsenic  acid.  There  was 
a  tradition  that  these  acids  only  gave  tarnishable  glass,  but 
experiments  showed  that  phosphoric. and  boric  acids  could  be 
combined  with  many  metallic  oxides  and  in  addition  to  the  six 
usual  elements,  namely,  silicon,  potassium,  sodium,  lead, 
calcium,  and  oxygen,  the  following  were  introduced  by  degrees 
in  quantities  of  at  least  10  per  cent :  boron,  phosphorus,  lithium, 
magnesium,  zinc,  cadmium,  barium,  strontium,  aluminium, 
beryllium,  iron,  manganese,  cerium,  didymium,  erbium,  silver, 
mercury,  thallium,  bismuth,  antimony,  arsenic,  molybdenum, 
niobium,  tungsten,  tin,  titanium,  uranium,  and  fluorine. 

It  was  soon  seen  that  by  the  introduction  of  new  elements 
the  variation  of  the  hitherto  fixed  relation  between  refraction 
and  dispersion  could  be  attained.  On  the  other  hand,  very 
few  of  the  elements  rendered  the  dispersions  of  crown  and  flint 


106  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

more  similar,  whereby  the  shortening  of  the  secondary  spec- 
trum could  be  effected.  Boric  acid  is  peculiar  in  lengthening 
the  red  end  of  the  spectrum,  relative  to  the  blue,  while  potas- 
sium, and  sodium  have  the  opposite  effect.  In  the  old  glass, 
flint  has  a  higher  index  and  greater  dispersion  than  crown 
glass,  and  lengthens  the  blue  more  than  the  red.  Hence  it  was 
desirable  to  introduce  into  flint  glass  as  large  a  percentage  as 
possible  of  boric  acid.  The  work,  being  empirical,  was  very 
tedious,  but  after  a  great  many  trials,  in  which  the  problems 
of  suitable  crucibles,  stirring  apparatus,  etc.,  were  not  incon- 
siderable, a  series  of  phosphates,  borates,  and  boro-silicates  was 
successfully  produced  in  small  quantities. 

The  question  of  annealing  soon  became  important,  and  after 
a  great  many  trials  and  subsequent  testings  with  polarized  light, 
the  process  known  as  fine  annealing  was  perfected.  It  was 
discovered  that  the  temperature  of  solidification  lay  between 
370°  C,  and  465°  C,  and  by  spreading  the  fall  of  95°  over  an 
interval  of  four  weeks  or  more,  perfect  results  were  obtained. 
This  involved  the  construction  of  an  oven  with  thermo  regu- 
lators, whereby  the  temperature  might  be  kept  at  any  point  and 
allowed  to  fall  with  any  desired  slowness. 

Up  to  1886  the  net  result  of  all  these  epoch-making  dis- 
coveries and  new  processes  was  nineteen  glasses  of  essentially 
new  optical  characteristics,  and  the  researches  conducted  by 
Abbe  and  Schott,  with,  the  help  of  the  University  and  the 
Prussian  Diet,  soon  made  Jena  the  world's  center  for  the  high- 
est grade  of  optical  glass.  Through  this  small  but  essential 
component  of  optical  instruments  of  all  kinds,  Germany  exer- 
cised great  power  over  scientific  and  military  progress  in  optics. 
The  wide-spread  use  of  German  scientific  instruments  needs  no 
emphasis,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  best  military 
optics  among  the  armies  and  navies  of  the  Allies  until  long 
after  the  war  began,  were  made  with  Jena  glass,  and  only  the 
fact  that  a  large  stock  of  this  glass  was  in  America  enabled  our 
optical  instrument-makers  to  carry  on  until  American-made 
optical  glass  could  come  to  their  relief. 


OPTICAL  GLASS  FOR  WAR  NEEDS  107 

It  is  true  that  optical  glass  was  also  being  made  in  England 
and  France,  but  those  countries  needed  all  the  glass  they  could 
produce,  and  as  a  result,  the  glass  sent  here,  although  for  use 
in  instruments  being  made  for  their  accounts,  was  not  always 
wholly  satisfactory. 

That  very  high-grade  optics  are  essential  in  modern  warfare 
is  at  once  obvious  when  we  consider  improvements  in  Ordnance. 
In  the  days  of  the  Revolution  the  combatants  are  said  to  have 
waited  until  they  could  see  the  whites  of  the  eyes  of  their 
enemies  before  firing;  in  the  Civil  War  firing  was  point-blank; 
in  the  Spanish  War  6,000  yards  was  the  maximum  graduation 
required  on  the  range-finder.  Today  the  horizon  is  the  limit 
in  the  larger  instruments,  and  much  progress  has  already  been 
made  with  range-finding  methods  which  are  necessary  for  dis- 
tances beyond  the  range  of  observation  from  the  ground. 

Now  what  is  the  history  of  optical  glass  in  America?  The 
oldest  record  states  that  some  fair-grade  optical  glass  was  made 
by  the  Macbeth-Evans  Glass  Company  in  the  period  between 
1890  and  1893,  during  which  time  they  had  the  assistance  of  a 
Mr.  Feil,  a  French  glass- worker  who  had  had  experience  with 
Mantois.  Both  crown  and  flint  were  made  but  there  are  no 
details  as  to  the  quantity  produced,  the  percentage  of  usable 
glass  secured,  nor  the  quality.  At  that  time,  as  later,  there  was 
no  demand  for  other  than  European  glass,  the  cost  of  develop- 
ment would  have  been  large,  and  the  results  quite  uncertain. 
Even  if  success  was  attained  in  producing  usable  glass,  the 
total  volume  of  the  business  has  never  been  such  as  to  be 
attractive,  so  that  the  work  ceased.  The  next  date  is  1903, 
when  Mr.  William  Bausch,  of  the  Bausch  and  Lomb  Optical 
Company,  conducted  a  few  small-scale  experiments,  but  only 
with  discouraging  results.  The  question  remained  dormant 
until  1912,  when  Mr.  Bausch  resumed  his  work  and  had  a 
small,  round,  oil-fired  furnace  constructed.  It  was  soon  found, 
however,  that  it  was  impossible  to  properly  control  this  furnace 
and  in  the  spring  of  1913  the  firing  was  changed  over  to  uncar- 
buretted  gas  supplied  by  the  local  artificial  gas  company. 


io8  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

Some  time  previous  to  this  date  Victor  Martin,  a  Belgian 
glass-maker,  had  come  to  this  country  with  the  hope  of  starting 
an  optical  glass  industry  in  America.  He  found  European 
glass  very  strongly  intrenched  and  no  producer  of  optical  glass 
in  any  way  interested  in  his  project,  even  provided  satisfactory 
glass  could  be  produced.  He  turned  again  to  the  plate-glass 
industry,  but  was  fortunately  attracted  by  an  advertisement 
placed  by  Mr.  Bausch  in  the  hope  of  securing  an  experienced 
optical  glass  man  to  assist  him  in  his  work.  In  the  spring  of 
1912  Mr.  Bausch  personally  engaged  Mr.  Martin  and  serious 
work  began.  There  was  some  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
whether  the  considerable  expense  involved  in  developing  the 
industry  was  justified  in  view  of  the  fact  that  European  sources 
of  supply  were  so  satisfactory  and  the  price  of  glass,  which 
was  from  $1.50  to  $20  per  pound,  was  considered  reasonable. 
Experimental  work,  therefore,  was  discontinued  during  the 
late  autumn  of  1913  and  was  not  again  taken  up  until  the  spring 
of  1914.  Some  usable  glass  was  made  from  1912  on  and  in  the 
autumn  of  1914  two  single  pot  furnaces  of  the  regenerative  type 
and  one  pot  arch  were  constructed  at  Rochester.  Small  pots 
were  used  at  first  and  it  was  not  until  May,  1915,  that  the  first 
melt  in  a  pot,  26  by  26  inches,  was  made. 

The  outbreak  of  the  war  brought  the  seriousness  of  the  glass 
situation  to  the  attention  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards,  and  in 
the  winter  of  1914-15  experimental  furnaces  and  auxiliary 
apparatus  were  installed  at  the  Pittsburgh  laboratory,  with  the 
intention  of  starting  at  the  bottom  and  working  out  the  par- 
ticular technique  peculiar  to  the  making  of  optical  glass.  The 
first  i,ooo-pound  pot  was  installed  in  this  plant  during  the 
winter  of  1916.  In  August,  1914,  the  Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass 
Company  began  correspondence  with  the  optical  instrument 
makers  and  in  April,  1915,  began  their  preliminary  work, 
strong  in  the  belief  that  they  could  develop  glass  that  would 
meet  all  the  requirements.  They  passed  rapidly  through  the 
experimental  stages  to  xo-inch  and  then  i6-inch  pots,  taking 
over  plate-glass  furnaces  for  the  purpose  of  melting  optical 


OPTICAL  GLASS  FOR  WAR  NEEDS  109 

glass  and  constructing  new  furnaces  designed  to  give  better 
results.  They  were  encouraged  in  their  work  by  the  Eastman 
Kodak  Company,  which  placed  large  orders  for  suitable  glass 
on  a  basis  which  took  into  consideration  a  share  in  the  expense 
of  development. 

In  June,  1915,  Keuffel  and  Esser,  finding  their  supply  of 
glass  running  low,  gave  permission  to  their  glass  moulder  to 
undertake  optical  glass  making,  and,  _strange  to  say,  this 
moulder  was  the  same  Mr.  Feil  who  had  earlier  been  connected 
with  the  Macbeth-Evans  Glass  Company.  He  made  some  use- 
ful glass  in  Hoboken,  but  by  November,  1915,  had  decided  to 
take  up  other  work  and  at  that  time  C  W.  Keuffel  undertook 
the  task  along  scientific  lines.  Mr.  Keuffel,  unaided  in  his 
researches,  made  such  progress  that  by  January,  1916,  he  was 
able  to  produce  at  least  one  pot  of  boro-silicate  crown  from 
which  more  than  200  pounds  of  usable  glass  was  secured. 
During  the  following  months  he  was  able  to  make  much  of  the 
glass  required  in  that  plant. 

During  the  summer  of  1916  the  Spencer  Lens  Company 
built  a  glass  furnace  in  their  plant  at  Buffalo,  and  with  the  help 
of  a  general  glass-maker,  started  to  work.  The  furnace  was 
found  to  be  unsuited  to  the  work  and  it  was  soon  seen  that 
other  arrangements  would  have  to  be  made.  Consequently,  a 
small  plant  was  built  in  Hamburg,  New  York,  a  suburb  of 
Buffalo,  in  the  spring  of  1917,  and  this  was  later  greatly  en- 
larged. When  the  United  States  entered  the  war,  the  Macbeth- 
Evans  offered  their  services  to  a  department  of  the  Government 
and  were  about  to  enter  into  a  contract  when  it  was  learned 
that  two  ^  other  departments  of  the  Government  had  already 
made  arrangements  for  optical  glass  and  there  seemed  to  be  no 
further  need  of  their  services.  The  National  Optical  Glass 
Company,  a  subsidiary  of  the  Hazel-Atlas  Company,  of  Wash- 
ington, Pa.,  and  the  Carr-Lowrey  Glass  Company,  of  Baltimore, 
also  made  some  glass,  but  details  of  their  achievements  are 
lacking. 

It  should  be  emphasized  that  optical  glass  is  not  just  glass. 


no  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

The  skill  required  for  its  successful  production  is  quite  properly 
comparable  to  that  required  for  exact  quantitative  analysis. 
There  was  no  time  to  look  into  the  many  scientific  problems 
encountered.  It  was  the  same  insistent  demand  for  production, 
and  still  more  production,  but  always  within  the  limits  as 
regards  quality,  which  could  not  be  greatly  extended  even  in 
the  war  emergency.  Good  optical  glass  must  be  homogeneous, 
both  chemically  and  physically,  it  must  have  definite  refractive 
indices  for  different  wave  lengths  of  light,  it  must  be  as  free 
as  possible  from  color,  have  a  high  degree  of  transparency, 
extreme  stability  against  weather  and  reagents,  and  have  tough- 
ness as  well  as  hardness. 

When  glass  is  chemically  homogeneous  it  is  free  from  striae, 
bubbles,  stones,  crystals,  and  cloud.  Striae  are  variously  known 
as  veins,  cords,  threads,  and  ream  by  glass-makers.  Striae 
come  from  a  variety  of  sources  and  even  when  the  melt  is 
comparatively  free  from  them,  lines  of  flow  may  be  set  up  by 
suddenly  moving  or  jarring  the  pot.  These  lines  of  flow  may 
bring  in  glass  from  the  sides,  where  it  has  been  affected  by  the 
pot,  from  the  bottom,  where  there  may  have  been  selective 
settling,  or  from  the  top  where  the  volatilization  may  have 
changed  the  composition  enough  to  make  the  extremely  small 
difference  in  refraction  which  spells  striae.  Striae  are  fre- 
quently due  to  excessive  action  of  the  glass  upon  the  pot,  insuffi- 
cient or  inadequate  stirring,  incorrect  temperatures,  or  cooling 
of  the  pot  in  arches,  where  the  heat  is  so  great  as  to  cause  the 
stiff  crust  on  the  partly  cooled  pot  to  re-melt  and  start  lines  of 
flow  by  convection.  Striae  usually  show  a  high  percentage 
of  silica  and  alumina.  One  of  the  important  remedies  is  proper 
stirring  and  this  differs  according  to  the  glass  and  other  con- 
siderations, such  as  the  selection  of  a  pot  built  with  due  regard 
for  the  kind  of  glass  which  is  to  be  melted  in  it. 

For  some  uses  small  striae  if  in  one  plane,  are  of  such 
trifling  consequence  that  the  glass  can  be  used  for  certain  types 
of  lenses.  This  led  to  the  American  war-time  method  of  roll- 


OPTICAL  GLASS  FOR  WAR  NEEDS     in 

ing  optical  glass  into  thin  sheets  just  as  plate  glass  is  made  — 
something  quite  unheard  of  previously  in  optical  glass  manu- 
facture. Some  glass  of  nearly  every  variety  has  been  treated 
by  this  method,  principally  in  the  plant  of  the  Pittsburgh  Plate 
Glass  Company,  and  later  elsewhere. 

Bubbles,  likewise  called  seeds,  air  bells,  boil,  and  pot  bubbles, 
are  also  a  source  of  great  annoyance  and  show  lack  of  chemical 
homogeneity.  They  come  from  many  sources  and  no  doubt  are 
entrapped  mechanically.  Some  form  during  the  reaction,  cling 
tenaciously  to  the  sides  and  bottom  of  the  pot,  and  loosen  but 
gradually  during  the  stirring.  Others  doubtless  represent  dis- 
solved gases,  air  stirred  into  the  mass,  and  steam  from  leaking 
water-cooled  stirring  rods,  and  under  unusual  circumstances, 
vacuum  bubbles  resulting  when  a  pot  is  cooled  very  quickly. 
Among  the  methods  to  free  the  glass  of  these  bubbles,  can  be 
mentioned  the  use  of  arsenic  in  quantities  not  over  0.3  per  cent, 
and  of  antimony  oxide  which  reacts  at  a  high  temperature  with 
the  evolution  of  gas,  which  rising  through  the  mass,  literally 
sweeps  out  the  small  bubbles.  The  Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass 
Company  developed  the  use  of  ammonium  nitrate  for  this  pur- 
pose, the  compound  being  introduced  in  the  shape  of  a  small 
moulded  stick.  The  nitrate  is  volatilized  completely  and  gives 
off  large  bubbles  of  gas  when  forced  to  the  bottom  of  the  pot 
of  glass  at  the  high  "  fining  "  temperatures.  These  methods 
are  called  "  blocking  "  and  sometimes  a  potato  or  block  of  wet 
wood  is  forced  to  the  bottom  of  the  pot,  the  object  again  being 
to  sweep  out  the  bubbles  by  the  use  of  larger  ones,  and  this 
action  also  tends  to  mix  the  glass.  However,  some  glass  can- 
not be  entirely  freed  from  bubbles. 

Stones  refer  to  fragments  of  undissolved  materials  and  more 
often  to  pieces  of  the  pot  wall  or  the  furnace  crown  which  fall 
into  the  pot.  A  good  pot  will  cast  very  few,  sometimes  no 
stones  into  the  melt.  Occasionally  stones  are  introduced  into 
the  glass  during  the  pressing  of  the  irregular  pieces  into  desired 
shapes. 


ii2  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

Crystallization  results  from  super-saturation,  just  as  in  any 
solution,  and  when  the  glass  is  coolecl  too  rapidly  crystals  may 
also  be  formed  even  to  the  extent  of  devitrification. 

At  one  time  each  of  two  manufacturers  had  much  trouble 
with  cloudy  glass.  It  has  been  shown  that  this  may  be  due  to 
chlorides  or  sulphates  in  the  potassium  carbonate,  or  in  the 
case  of  medium  and  dense  flints,  to  excessive  arsenic.  Some 
observers  think  the  material  to  be  present  in  colloidal  form, 
for  when  glass  containing  selenium,  copper,  gold,  etc.,  is  cooled 
slowly  a  high  color  results,  but  if  cooled  quickly,  the  glass  is 
often  clear.  Potassium  carbonate  with  o.i  per  cent  sulphur 
trioxide  gave  good  results.  When  0.4  per  cent,  was  reached 
the  pot  glass  was  milky  at  the  edges,  and  when  0.75  per  cent, 
was  present,  the  entire  mass  was  spoiled.  The  skilful  use  of 
high  temperatures  is  said  to  be  a  good  remedy  for  this  lack 
of  chemical  homogeneity. 

Physical  homogeneity  is  just  as  important,  for  strains  cause 
deformity  of  optical  surfaces,  give  astigmatism,  and  may  even 
lead  to  cracking  of  lenses.  It  is  out  of  the  question  to  produce 
high-grade  optical  parts  with  glass  not  free  from  strain  or 
internal  stress  —  hence  the  necessity  of  fine  annealing.  The 
softening  point  of  glass  is  the  temperature  at  which  it  flows 
under  its  own  weight,  while  the  temperature  at  which  it  yields 
slowly  under  loads  approaching  in  magnitude  its  crushing 
strength  is  its  practical  annealing  temperature.  Heretofore 
annealing  has  been  done  by  cooling  so  slowly  that  there  is  no 
large  temperature  difference  between  the  surface  and  the  center 
of  a  pot  of  glass.  This  requires  expert  manipulation  and 
extreme  regulation  of  the  temperature  fall,  as  well  as  exact 
pyrometric  control.  Drs.  Adams  and  Williamson  of  the  Geo- 
physical Laboratory  arrived  at  the  conclusion  that  if  the  pot 
were  held  long  enough  at  the  high  temperature  to  allow  internal 
stress  to  be  removed  by  the  molecular  movement  of  the  glass, 
yet  with  the  temperature  below  that  at  which  the  glass  would 
flow,  annealing  could  then  take  place  much  more  rapidly. 
While  under  this  treatment  strains  would  again  be  set  up,  they 


OPTICAL  GLASS  FOR  WAR  NEEDS  113 

would  practically  disappear  when  the  whole  mass  again  reached 
the  same,  that  is  to  say,  room  temperature.  This  method  of 
annealing  has  been  found  satisfactory  for  small  and  ordinary- 
sized  blocks  and  effects  a  great  saving  in  time. 

It  is  obvious  that  with  such  rigid  requirements  it  becomes 
necessary  to  develop  adequate  methods  for  testing.  .  The  inter- 
ference figure  observed  in  the  black  field  of  a  polariscope  with 
crossed  prisms  is  customarily  used  as  an  indication  of  strain. 
Dr.  Wright  of  the  Geophysical  Laboratory  devised  a  test  based 
on  the  assumption  that  because  two  rays  of  different  index  are 
formed  as  a  result  of  the  strain,  these  seriously  affect  the  image 
formed.  The  path  difference  of  two  such  rays  is,  therefore, 
a  measure  of  strain  and  this  can  be  expressed  in  millionths  of  a 
millimeter  per  centimeter  of  path  traveled.  In  a  well  annealled 
glass  this  path  difference  is  5,  a  fairly  good  glass  10,  and  that 
which  is  barely  usable  20  millionths  of  a  millimeter.  In 
Government  inspection  the  value  10  was  ordinarily  used,  with 
between  5  and  10  as  the  standard  in  special  cases. 

The  refractive  index  and  dispersion  are  two  physical  con- 
stants of  utmost  importance  and  successful  glass-making  means 
turning  out  pots  of  the  same  glass  within  one  in  the  third  deci- 
mal place  in  refractive  index.  Dispersion  is  of  fundamental 
importance  when  designing  lenses  to  avoid  aberrations,  and  is 
expressed  as  the  V  value.  This  is  the  ratio  of  the  refractive 
index  for  the  D  or  sodium  line,  minus  one,  to  the  difference 
between  the  refractive  indices  for  the  F  and  C  lines. 

Uniformity  in  the  constants  is  very  necessary,  for  of  course 
all  grinding  and  polishing  tools  cannot  be  changed  with  every 
batch  of  glass.  Lead  increases  refractive  index  as  well  as 
dispersion,  and  extends  the  blue  end  of  the  spectrum.  Barium 
raises  the  index,  but  does  not  relatively  increase  the  total  dis- 
persion nor  extend  the  blue  end  of  the  spectrum  to  the  same 
extent  as  does  lead.  Zinc  is  intermediate  in  its  effect,  while 
calcium  raises  slightly  both  the  index  and  the  dispersion  without 
extending  the  blue.  Boron  cuts  down  the  total  dispersion. 

Freedorq  from  color  is  also,  a  prime  consideration  and  because 


H4  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

of  their  influence  upon  light  absorption,  decolorizers  may  not 
be  used.  Iron,  copper,  nickel,  cobalt,  chromic  oxide,  vanadium, 
and  manganese  are  to  be  avoided,  both  in  the  batch  and  in  the 
pot.  Transparency  is  closely  related  to  color  in  that  the  use  of 
decolorizers  is  prohibited,  inasmuch  as  what  they  frequently  do 
is  to  form  the  color  complementary  to  that  of  the  glass,  result- 
ing in  a  gray  which  is  very  objectionable.  Elements  which 
impart  a  high  color  must,  of  course,  be  avoided. 

Stability,  hardness,  and  toughness  are  all  properties  which 
may  be  largely  controlled  by  the  chemical  composition  of  the 
batch,  the  most  desirable  qualities  being  obtained  in  low  alkali 
glasses. 

It  is  apparent,  therefore,  that  the  production  of  good  optical 
glass  falls  into  three  or  four  principal  problems,  namely,  raw 
materials,  good  pots,  special  pots  for  special  batches,  tempera- 
ture control,  and  glass  stirring.  From  the  nature  of  these 
problems  it  is  also  clear  that  a  good  grounding  in  physics, 
chemistry,  and  engineering  is  much  more  to  be  desired  than 
previous  glass  experience,  the  pre-war  dogma  of  the  Germans 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  Pittsburgh  laboratory  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards  con- 
tinued its  investigations  and  did  what  it  could  to  place  the  infor- 
mation gained  at  the  disposal  of  the  public.  The  glass  manu- 
facturers patriotically  adhered  to  their  determination  to  make 
glass,  but  it  was  soon  found  that  there  were  not  enough  trained 
scientists  actively  engaged  on  the  problem.  It  was  late  in  1916 
that  a  new  group  began  to  become  involved.  Dr.  F.  E.  Wright 
was  asked  to  give  an  opinion  on  the  cause  of  milkiness  and 
clouds  in  certain  glass,  and  while  he  professed  no  knowledge 
at  the  time,  he  did  endeavor  to  help.  Later  on  the  Council  of 
<  National  Defense  became  interested,  principally  through  mem- 
bers of  the  Naval  Consulting  Board,  and  Dr.  Wright  went  to 
Rochester  to  learn  if  cooperation  would  be  welcome.  In  April, 
1917,  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  A.  L.  Day,  Director  of  the 
Geophysical  Laboratory  of  the  Carnegie  Institution  of  Wash- 
ington, the  first  group  from  that  laboratory  went  to  the  plant 


OPTICAL  GLASS  FOR  WAR  NEEDS  115 

of  the  Bausch  and  Lomb  Optical  Company  with  Dr.  Wright  in 
charge.  At  that  time  the  plant  production  was  about  3,000 
pounds  net.  per  month. 

At  first  there  was  certain  passive  resistance  to  be  overcome, 
largely  because  of  the  belief  in  technique  and  trade  secrets, 
and  it  became  necessary  to  demonstrate  the  efficiency  of  applied 
and  theoretical  science.  This  fortunately  Dr.  Wright  was  able 
to  do  within  two  or  three  weeks  by  working  out  the  curves  for 
three  component  systems  based  on  the  published  analysis  of 
some  i  10  German  glasses.  Silica,  lead  oxide,  and  alkali  oxide  j 
are  the  three  components  in  a  flint  glass.  Too  little  silica  gives 
a  soft  glass,  too  much  alkali  one  that  is  hygroscopic,  and  too 
much  lead  will  cause  crystallization.  A  diagram  was  eventu- 
ally worked  out  so  that  batches  could  be  computed  so  accu- 
rately in  advance  that  within  an  experimental  melt  and  one  or 
two  large  melts,  glass  of  a  desired  quality  could  be  made. 

This  marked  a  most  important  advance,  not  only  because  of 
the  extreme  usefulness  of  such  a  method,  but  because  it  demon- 
strated to  the  adherents  of  secrecy  that  science  could  be  more 
potent  than  technical  skill.  Thereafter  an  efficient  cooperation 
was  enjoyed  between  the  best  that  the  country  afforded  in 
technical  skill  and  scientific  knowledge. 

The  active  support  of  the  Geophysical  Laboratory  group  was 
sought  because  they  were  the  most  experienced  in  the  study 
of  silicates,  in  working  at  exact  high  temperatures,  and  in 
methods  requiring  precision.  They  began  work  at  the  point 
where  the  best  progress  in  commercial  production  had  been 
made,  and  where  the  greatest  amount  of  technical  skill  was 
available.  They  were  able  to  add  their  scientific  experience 
and  at  the  same  time  acquired  the  technique  of  glass-making 
so  rapidly  that  by  June,  1917,  they  were  able  to  manage  the 
plant  in  its  entirety  without  difficulty. 

The  progress  at  Rochester  became  so  gratifying  and  the 
demand  for  glass  so  great  that  the  Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Com- 
pany tore  down  their  fence  of  secrecy  in  December,  1917,  and 
invited  cooperation.  The  Geophysical  Laboratory  took  charge 


n6  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

and  the  Bureau  of  Standards  assisted  in  the  inspection  of  the 
product.  In  December,  1917,  the  Geophysical  Laboratory  also 
took  entire  charge  of  the  plant  of  the  Spencer  L?ns  Company 
and  with  a  free  hand  was  soon  making  glass  equal  to  that  from 
Jena. 

Assistance  of  the  utmost  importance  was  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  glass  problem  from  other  quarters.  The  Geological 
Survey  put  men  into  the  field  to  find  suitable  sand,  limestone, 
and  clays,  and  were  successful.  Sand  of  high  chemical  purity 
and  composed  of  uniformly  small  grains  was  secured  at  Rock- 
wood,  Mich. ;  Hancock,  Md. ;  and  Ottawa,  111.  Interesting 
experiments  were  conducted  on  the  removal  of  iron  from  other 
sands  by  the  use  of  chlorine  and  later  phosgene,  but  this  method 
of  treatment  proved  to  be  too  costly,  and  in  the  meantime  sand 
sufficiently  free  from  iron  was  found.  Potassium  carbonate 
of  necessary  quality  was  produced  by  Armour  &  Company, 
who  deserve  credit  for  the  excellent  work  done  on  this  impor- 
tant raw  material.  In  some  glass  sodium  could  be  substituted 
for  potassium,  but  in  certain  cases  the  glass  is  inclined  to  be 
less  brilliant. 

Good  sodium  carbonate,  barium  carbonate,  boric  acid,  zinc 
oxide,  arsenic  trioxide,  and  precipitated  calcium  carbonate  were 
finally  secured.  Lead  oxide  with  less  than  0.02  per  cent,  iron 
oxide  was  also  secured  and  by  exercising  careful  chemical 
control,  no  great  difficulty  was  experienced  with  raw  materials. 

Pots  have  been  mentioned,  but  we  must  emphasize  their  real 
importance.  Poor  pots  can  cause  all  manner  of  trouble,  rang- 
ing from  breaking  at  critical  points  and  necessitating  the  re- 
building of  a  furnace,  to  dissolving  to  a  detrimental  degree  in 
the  glass  melt.  The  Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Company  was 
already  accustomed  to  making  special  pots,  and  in  June,  1917, 
began  experiments  involving  feldspar  as  an  ingredient.  While 
their  work  was  in  progress  the  Bureau  of  Standards  was  suc- 
cessful in  devising  unusually  good  pots  for  optical  glass.  This 
work  was  under  A.  V.  Bleininger,  who  also  devised  a  successful 
method  for  casting  pots.  Most  of  the  pots  are  36  inches  in 


OPTICAL  GLASS  FOR  WAR  NEEDS  117 

diameter  and  height  and  hold  1,000  pounds  of  crown,  and  1,500 
pounds  or  more  of  dense  flint.  Pots  sometimes  contribute  0.02 
to  0.04  per  cent,  of  iron  oxide  to  the  glass,  which  is  very 
objectionable.  Again,  if  a  high  refractory  clay  with  poor  bond- 
ing qualities  is  mixed  with  a  better  bonding  clay,  the  latter  may 
dissolve  out,  causing  stones  to  be  cast  into  the  glass.  The  puri- 
fication of  pots  after  building  has  been  attempted,  but  it  makes 
the  pot  porous  and  entirely  too  fragile.  The  outcome  of 
Bleininger's  work  was  a  so-called  porcelain  type  of  pot,  made 
up  of  white  ware  bisque,  crushed  to  pass  a  ten-mesh  sieve,  35 
per  cent. ;  pot  shell  crushed  to  pass  a  ten-mesh  sieve,  10  per 
cent. ;  feldspar,  3  per  cent. ;  flint,  4  per  cent. ;  Tennessee  ball 
clay,  Number  5,  15  per  cent.;  Illinois  bond  clay,  5  per  cent.; 
and  kaolin,  28  per  cent.  These  pots  were  made  by  hand  and  a 
typical  formula  for  a  cast  pot  is :  whitevvare  bisque,  48  per  cent. ; 
plastic  bond  clay,  23  per  cent. ;  kaolin,  24  per  cent. ;  feldspar,  5 
per  cent. 

These  pots  withstand  the  severe  corrosive  action  of  even 
dense  barium  crown  glass,  and  are  ready  for  use  in  much  less 
time  than  the  German  type  of  pot.  Just  as  the  glass-makers 
did  all  they  could  to  produce  a  sufficient  quantity  of  good  glass, 
so  the  pot-makers  continued  their  researches  and  contributed 
largely  to  the  final  success.  La  Clede-Christy,  the  Buckeye,  the 
Gill,  and  the  Willetts  Clay  Products  Companies  deserve  great 
credit,  while  the  work  on  pots  is  probably  considered  the 
greatest  contribution  of  the  Bureau  of  Standards  to  the  glass 
problem. 

In  furnace  operations  the  cycle  has  been  shortened  from  the 
two  and  a  half  days  here  fore  used  customarily  to  twenty-four 
hours,  a  very  important  improvement  in  glass-house  practice 
which  was  worked  out  by  the  Geophysical  Laboratory  in  the 
plant  of  the  Spencer  Lens  Company.  This  has  been  accom- 
plished by  improvements  in  methods  of  stirring,  stirring 
machines  having  almost  eliminated  the  hand  stirring  which 
Jena  had  considered  indispensable.  Proper  stirring  is  perhaps 
the  most  dfficult  part  of  glass-making  technique  and  involves 


ii8  THE  NEW  WORLD  'OF  SCIENCE 

a  great  many  interdependent  factors.  The  time  of  starting  and 
stopping,  the  temperatures  to  be  held  throughout  the  operation, 
and  the  path  followed  in  the  stirring  are  all  important.  The 
stirrer  must  come  near  enough  and  yet  must  not  be  too  close 
'to  either  side  wall  or  the  bottom  of  the  pot. 

Simple  inspection  methods  for  purposes  of  rough  sorting 
were  evolved,  and  then  more  refined  methods  for  use  at  other 
points.  An  immersion  method,  using  liquids  of  the  same  re- 
fractive index  as  the  glass,  served  well  for  locating  striae  in 
rough  glass  chunks,  and  a  combination  of  this  method,  the  work 
of  the  Bureau  of  Standards,  with  monochromatic  light  served 
to  detect  the  finest  striae. 

We  have  referred  to  annealing  and  the  progress  made 
in  that  art.  The  German  practice  has  been  to  place  chunks 
of  glass  in  square  molds,  and  heat  them  until  the  glass  would 
flow  into  the  shape  of  a  plate,  in  which  condition  annealing  took 
place.  The  fall  in  temperature  from  465°  C.  to  370°  C.  was 
spread  over  an  interval  of  four  or  more  weeks.  The  American 
practice  is  to  heat  the  glass  in  a  muffle  to  the  so f  ting  point  and 
then  to  press  it  into  the  desired  shape  for  grinding  and  polish- 
ing. Annealing  of  these  small  pieces  may  then  be  done  in 
some  instances  in  three  days. 

As  has  been  pointed  out,  there  is  a  certain  danger  in  the  use 
of  the  pot  arch  as  a  chamber  in  which  to  allow  pots  of  glass 
to  cool.  This  danger  comes  from  the  re-melting  of  the  stiff 
crust  and  the  skin  on  the  sides  of  the  pot,  which  form  before 
the  pot  is  placed  in  the  arch.  This  re-melting  starts  convec- 
tion currents  which  may  sweep  into  the  glass,  producing  striae. 
At  a  time  when  there  was  a  scarcity  of  pot  arches,  the  Pitts- 
burgh Plate  Glass  Company  tried  banking  the  pots  with  sand 
and  this  experiment  led  to  the  use  of  refractory  lined  iron 
drums  which  might  be  let  down  over  the  pot.  This  practice 
has  been  widely  followed  and  is  quite  successful. 

This  same  company  also  worked  out  the  rolling  of  optical 
glass  into  sheets  on  a  casting  table,  employing  technique  similar 
to  that  in  the  manufacture  of  plate  glass.  The  spectacle 


OPTICAL  GLASS  FOR  WAR  NEEDS  119 

glass  of  the  country  was  made  in  this  fashion  during  the  war 
and  it  has  become  the  established  procedure  for  that  type  of 
glass.  Much  optical  glass  has  also  been*  made  in  this  manner. 
After  casting,  the  glass  is  passed  into  lehrs  where  it  stays  six 
hours  or  more  to  cool.  Grinding  and  polishing  can  be  done 
on  the  large  pieces  before  cutting  for  inspection. 

A  large  number  of  batch  formulae  have  been  developed  and 
the  production  of  newer  and  better  types  of  glass  is  the  subject 
for  continued  research.  Some  of  the  limitations  may  be 
mentioned.  If  silica  is  used  in  quantities  above  75  per  cent, 
the  glass  cannot  be  properly  melted.  Alkali  must  be  below  20 
per  cent,  or  the  glass  is  hygroscopic.  Lime  must  be  less  than 
13  per  cent,  or  crystallization  will  result.  Lead  above  70  per 
cent,  also  will  cause  crystallization.  Barium  oxide  may 
be  used  up  to  50  per  cent.,  but  great  care  must  be  exercised 
or  the  pot  will  be  attacked.  Boron  oxide  jnay  be  used  up  to  15 
per  cent,  or  20  per  cent.,  but  zinc  above  12  per  cent,  causes 
crystallization.  Alumina  above  5  per  cent,  gives  a  glass  that 
is  too  viscous,  but  alumina  toughens  glass  and  serves  to  counter- 
act the  tendency  to  crystallize.  Arsenic  increases  transparency 
by  setting  up  an  oxidizing  action  at  the  high  temperature  of 
the  furnace,  thus  reducing  the  color  which  arises  from  the  pres- 
ence of  iron.  Nitrates  alone  are  too  active.  Carbonates  alone 
do  not  give  the  necessary  oxidizing  agents,  while  if  too  much 
alkali  is  used  with  too  little  nitrate,  the  glass  will  not  "  fine  " 
well. 

From  importing  exclusively  in  1914,  the  United  States  rapidly 
developed  the  industry  until  late  in  the  war  we  were  in  position 
to  become  exporters  and  served  Italy's  requirements  during  the 
last  months,  taking  a  considerable  burden  off  the  shoulders 
of  the  English  and  French  makers.  Of  the  675,000  pounds 
of  ordinary  crown,  boro-silicate  crown,  barium  crown,  ordinary 
hard  crown,  light  flint,  medium  flint,  and  dense  flint  produced 
for  war  purposes,  95  per  cent,  was  made  under  the  direction 
of  the  Geophysical  Laboratory,  with  ten  men  in  the  field  and 
thirteen  at  work  concurrently  in  the  laboratory.  About  2.8^ 


120  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

per  cent,  was  produced  at  the  Bureau  of  Standards  which  was 
rapidly  approaching  its  schedule  of  two  tons  per  month  when 
the  armistice  was  signed.  KeufTel  and  Esser  made  glass  for 
their  own  use.  At  the  close  of  the  war  the  maximum  capacity 
of  the  Bausch  and  Lomb  Optical  Company  plant  was  above 
50,000  pounds  per  month,  the  Pittsburgh  Plate  Glass  Com- 
pany, 40,000  pounds,  and  the  Spencer  Lens  Company  more 
than  15,000  pounds.  The  optical  companies  will  continue  pro- 
duction and  development  work  with  the  object  of  making  the 
best  glass  in  the  world  for  their  own  use  and  for  others.  Some 
scale  of  the  operation  can  be  conveyed  by  the  statement  that  in 
the  Bausch  and  Lomb  Optical  Company  plant  33  million  cubic 
feet  of  gas  were  required  monthly. 

Another  achievement  has  been  the  percentage  of  glass  found 
usable.  All  German  reports  place  20  per  cent,  as  a  maximum 
'  and  state  that  from  15  to  18  per  cent,  is  more  nearly  the  aver- 
age. The  record  shows  that  toward  the  end  of  the  war,  an 
average  of  23^  Per  cent,  of  all  optical  glass  produced  at  one 
of  our  large  plants  was  usable.  Transmission  now  equals 
that  of  the  Jena  glass,  as  does  the  absorption,  which  has  been 
reduced  0.5  per  cent,  per  centimeter  of  glass. 

To  record  thus  briefly  the  contributions  of  certain  scientists 
and  manufacturers  for  the  winning  of  the  war  seems  inade- 
quate in  view  of  the  tremendous  obstacles  which  had  to  be 
overcome  under  unusual  pressure.  Increased  production 
meant  much  more  than  merely  the  multiplication  of  manufac- 
turing units,  and  to  have  accomplished  all  that  was  done  is  only 
equaled  by  certain  other  scientific  work  where,  as  in  this  case, 
it  was  necessary  in  a  few  months  to  cover  the  ground  that  had 
been  covered  elsewhere  during  a  period  of  years. 


THE  ROLE  OF  CHEMISTRY 
IN  THE  WAR 


VIII 

THE  SUPPLY  OF  NITROGEN  PRODUCTS  FOR 
THE  MANUFACTURE  OF  EXPLOSIVES 

ARTHUR  A.  NOYES 

AN  adequate  supply  of  nitrogen  compounds,  particularly  of 
nitric  acid  and  ammonia,  was  of  vital  importance  in  en- 
suring victory  in  the  war.  From  nitric  acid  are  made  all  the 
important  explosives,  smokeless  powder,  picric  acid,  trinitro- 
toluol, ordinary  black  powder,  dynamite,  and  ammonium  ni- 
trate. The  last  of  these  materials,  the  simplest  of  them  all, 
came  during  the  war  into  the  greatest  prominence  as  one  of 
the  most  important  explosives.  In  fact,  one  of  the  leading 
munition  authorities  of  England  declared  that  the  war  could 
be  won  only  with  ammonium  nitrate,  as  no  other  explosive 
could  be  produced  in  quantity  adequate  to  meet  the  enormous 
demands  of  the  Allied  armies.  This  development  of  the  use 
of  ammonium  nitrate  brought  about  a  heavy  demand  for  am- 
monia; so  that  while  in  the  early  stages  of  the  war  our  chief 
concern  was  an  adequate  supply  of  nitric  acid,  we  soon  became 
no  less  interested  in  a  sufficient  and  ample  production  of  am- 
monia. 

Of  these  two  nitrogen  compounds  there  are  only  three  im- 
portant sources. 

The  first  source  is  Chile  saltpeter,  or  sodium  nitrate,  which 
is  found  in  a  natural  state  in  the  dry  regions  of  Chile,  and 
which  until  recently  furnished  the  total  supply  of  nitric  acid 
of  the  world.  We  depended  for  our  own  nitric  acid  supply 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war  wholly  upon  the  Chilean  imports. 

123 


124  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

This  was,  however,  a  precarious  source  of  supply.  For  in 
the  first  place,  it  required  ships  for  its  transportation,  and  ships 
were  scarce.  In  the  second  place,  there  was  always  danger 
that  enemy  machinations,  through  the  purchase  of  the  Chilean 
mines,  destroying  the  plants,  or  blowing  up  the  oil  supply  used 
for  fuel,  would  reduce  the  production;  or  that  our  supply 
might  be  cut  off  entirely,  by  the  establishment  of  a  hostile  sub- 
marine base  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  All  of  these  possibilities 
made  it  unsafe  to  rely  for  our  nitric  acid  supply  on  Chile  salt- 
peter alone.  But,  even  if  none  of  them  actually  came  about, 
it  would  still  be  impracticable  to  get  in  this  way  the  huge 
amount  of  nitric  acid  that  would  be  needed  by  the  American 
Army. 

The  second  source  of  nitrogen  products  is  the  ammonia 
produced  as  a  by-product  in  the  manufacture  of  gas  and  coke. 
There  has  been  developed,  as  will  be  described  later,  a  process 
for  the  conversion  of  ammonia  into  nitric  acid,  so  that  if  we 
could  get,  from  any  source,  an  adequate  supply  of  ammonia, 
it  could  be  converted  into  nitric  acid.  But  unfortunately,  this 
country  was  still  producing  most  of  its  coke  in  the  so-called 
"  beehive "  oven,  which  is  simply  a  hemispherical  kiln,  into 
which  the  coal  is  charged  and  set  on  fire ;  the  products  of  the 
combustion  being  allowed  to  pass  into  the  air,  whereby  the  am- 
monia and  valuable  hydrocarbons  that  might  be  obtained  are 
lost.  It  is  true  that  during  the  preceding  decade  there  had 
been  a  rapid  introduction  of  the  so-called  "  by-product "  ovens, 
in  which  the  coal  is  heated  in  closed  retorts,  and  the  gases  are 
passed  through  condensers  and  scrubbers  by  which  the  hydro- 
carbons and  the  ammonia  are  recovered.  It  was  even  claimed 
before  the  war  by  representatives  of  the  by-product  industry 
that  this  rapidly  increasing  supply  of  ammonia  would  alone 
suffice  to  meet  the  military  needs  of  the  Government;  but  the 
result  proved  that  it  was  utterly  inadequate.  The  production 
by  this  process  is  necessarily  limited  by  the  fact  that  the  by- 
product industry  is  dependent  upon  the  steel  industry;  for  it 
is  mainly  in  the  metallurgy  of  steel  that  coke  finds  its  use, 


NITROGEN  PRODUCTS  125 

and  ammonia  can  be  produced  at  reasonable  cost  only  in  pro- 
portion as  there  is  a  demand  for  coke. 

The  third  source  of  these  nitrogen  compounds  is  atmos- 
pheric nitrogen.  During  the  last  fifteen  years  there  have  been 
developed  a  number  of  chemical  processes  by  which  the  nitro- 
gen of  the  air  is  "  fixed,"  as  we  say,  whereby  ammonia,  nitric 
acid,  or  cyanide  is  produced.  Only  the  three  fixation  processes 
which  had  been  operated  before  the  war  on  a  commercial  scale 
will  be  here  briefly  described.  These  are  the  cyanamide  proc- 
ess, the  synthetic  ammonia  process,  and  the  arc  process. 

i.  The  cyanamide  process  starts  with  lime  and  powdered 
coke.  The  first  chemical  reaction  that  takes  place  results  in 
the  formation  of  calcium  carbide  (CaC2),  as  follows: 

CaO-f  3C  =  CaC2  +  CO. 

This  is  the  substance  which  is  used  so  extensively  in  the  manu- 
facture of  acetylene  for  use  as  an  illuminant  and  in  oxy-acety- 
lene  welding.  The  carbon  monoxide  escapes  as  a  gas.  The 
first  step  in  the  cyanamicfe  process  is  carried  out  in  huge  electric 
furnaces.  The  charge  of  lime  and  coke  in  small  lumps  is  fed 
down  through  the  furnace,  in  the  center  of  which  stands  a 
large  carbon  electrode ;  the  walls  of  the  furnace  form  the  other 
electrode.  The  mixture  is  heated  to  a  very  high  temperature, 
and  the  melted  carbide  is  tapped  off  at  the  bottom  from  time 
to  time,  and  allowed  to  solidify. 

The  carbide  is  then  crushed  and  subjected  to  the  nitrifying 
process.  It  is  packed  into  large  basket-shaped  containers  three 
to  six  feet  high  and  two  to  three  feet  in  diameter.  These 
baskets,  which  are  perforated  with  small  holes,  are  enclosed 
in  an  iron  vessel  into  which  is  forced  nitrogen  made  by  dis- 
tilling liquefied  air.  The  chemical  reaction  is  started  by  heat 
produced  by  passing  an  electric  current  through  a  resistance 
wire,  placed  in  the  axis  of  the  basket.  The  reaction  which 
takes  place  is  as  follows : 

CaC2  +  N2  =  CaCN2  +  C. 


126  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

This  gives  us  a  product,  CaCN2,  called  "  cyanamide,"  which 
contains  some  unchanged  carbide  and  some  lime  and  graphite. 
For  the  production  of  ammonia  the  cyanamide  is  next  treated 
with  steam,  whereupon  the  following  reaction  takes  place  : 

CaCN2  +  3H,O  =  CaCO3  +  2NH3. 

This  process  is  carried  out  in  huge  autoclaves  about  20  or  30 
feet  high  and  5  to  6  feet  in  diameter.  The  powdered  cyanamide 
is  fed  into  an  alkaline  solution,  and  then  steam  is  blown  in; 
the  mass  heats  up,  the  reaction  begins  and  becomes  violent,  and 
the  ammonia  is  liberated.  After  it  has  attained  a  pressure  of 
12  to  15  atmospheres,  it  is  blown:  off  into  gas-holders.  After 
the  reaction  has  spent  itself,  the  residue  is  again  charged  with 
steam  so  as  to  get  a  complete  removal  of  the  ammonia.  When 
carried  out  properly,  it  is  practicable  to  get  substantially  all  of 
the  nitrogen  in  the  form  of  ammonia. 

2.  The  synthetic  ammonia  process  is  an  extremely  simple 
one  chemically,  involving  the  following  reaction  : 


There  is  an  interesting  history  connected  with  the  develop- 
ment of  this  process.  The  proportion  of  ammonia  which 
forms  from  the  elements  (hydrogen  and  nitrogen)  at  atmos- 
pheric pressure  was  known  to  be  extremely  small  at  tempera- 
tures where  the  rate  of  combination  was  reasonably  rapid; 
thus  it  is  only  0.13  per  cent,  at  500°,  and  still  less,  only  0.02 
per  cent.,  at  700°  centigrade.  The  facts  that  the  equilibrium 
conditions  become  less  favorable  as  the  temperature  rises,  and 
that  on  the  other  hand  a  high  temperature  seemed  necessary  in 
order  to  give  a  rapid  rate  of  reaction  led  to  the  belief  that  there 
was  little  hope  of  basing  a  technical  process  upon  this  chemical 
reaction.  However,  a  German  chemist,  Prof.  Haber,  guided 
by  theoretical  considerations  which  show  that  the  proportion 
of  ammonia  formed  must  greatly  increase  with  increasing 


NITROGEN  PRODUCTS  127 

pressure  (becoming,  for  example,  18  per  cent,  at  200  atmos- 
pheres at  500°),  undertook  elaborate  investigations,  supported 
financially  by  one  of  the  large  chemical  companies  of  Ger- 
many, first,  to  develop  large  scale  apparatus  which  would  with- 
stand these  high  pressures,  and  secondly,  to  discover  a  contact- 
agent  or  catalyst  which  would  cause  the  hydrogen  and  nitrogen 
to  combine  rapidly  at  a  fairly  low  temperature.  After  years 
of  research  and  the  expenditure  of  two  or  three  millions  of 
dollars,  the  difficulties  were  largely  overcome,  and  a  practical 
commercial  process  was  developed.  The  hydrogen  required 
in  this  process  is  one  of  the  chief  factors  in  the  cost  of  pro- 
duction of  the  ammonia.  It  was  manufactured  by  injecting 
steam  into  a  furnace  containing  red-hot  coke,  mixing  the  gases 
so  produced  with  a  large  excess  of  steam,  passing  them  over  a 
contact-agent  whereby  the  carbon  monoxide  (CO)  present  is 
converted  into  carbon  dioxide  (CO2),  and  removing  the  latter 
from  the  gases  by  scrubbing  them  with  cold  water  at  a  pressure 
of  30-50  atmospheres.  The  chemical  changes  involved  are 
expressed  by  the  equations 


The  nitrogen  required  in  the  process  was  obtained  by  the  dis- 
tillation of  liquefied  air. 

3.  The  arc  process  like  the  synthetic  process,  involves  an  ex- 
tremely simple  chemical  reaction;  namely, 


At  a  very  high  temperature  the  nitrogen  and  oxygen  of  the 
atmosphere  can,  as  expressed  by  this  equation,  be  made  to 
unite  to  form  nitric  oxide.  In  this  case  the  effect  of  tem- 
perature on  the  equilibrium  is  exactly  the  opposite  of  its  effect 
on  the  ammonia  equilibrium.  The  higher  the  temperature,  the 
more  nitric  oxide  is  obtained  ;  but  there  is  very  little  produced 


128  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

until  the  temperature  becomes  very  high.  At  1600°  Centigrade 
0.4  per  cent,  (by  volume)  of  a  mixture  of  equal  parts  of  ni- 
trogen and  oxygen  is  converted  into  nitric  oxide;  at  1900°  i.o 
per  cent. ;  and  at  2400°,  2.2  per  cent.  It  is  clear,  then,  that  we  can 
get  a  considerable  production  of  nitric  oxide  only  by  operating 
at  a  high  temperature.  But  not  only  is  it  necessary  to  do  this, 
but  the  gases  must  be  cooled  so  quickly  that  in  the  process  of 
cooling  the  reaction  does  not  reverse  itself,  with  decomposition 
of  the  nitric  oxide  into  oxygen  and  nitrogen.  The  only  really 
practical  way  in  which  these  conditions  can  be  realized  is  by 
passing  through  air  a  powerful  electric  discharge.  An  electric 
arc  produces  locally  an  extremely  high  temperature,  and  the 
gas  can  be  drawn  rapidly  away  from  the  arc  and  quickly 
cooled. 

The  nitric  oxide  in  the  gases  coming  from  the  arc  must  now 
be  converted  into  nitric  acid  (HNO3).  This  is  done  by  caus- 
ing the  two  chemical  changes  expressed  by  the  following  equa- 
tions to  take  place  successively : 

2NO  +  O2  =  2  NO2   (nitrogen  peroxide). 
3N02  +  H2  O  =  2  HN03  +  NO. 

This  first  chemical  reaction  takes  place  of  itself  when  the  gas 
cools  to  below  150° ;  but  time  must  be  allowed  for  its  comple- 
tion, which  is  accomplished  by  passing  the  nitrous  gases 
through  a  large  empty  chamber.  The  second  reaction  is  then 
brought  about  by  passing  the  cool  gases  through  a  series  of 
high  granite  towers,  often  sixty  feet  high  and  sixteen  to 
twenty  feet  in  diameter,  filled  with  quartz  pebbles  over  which 
water  is  trickling.  As  this  second  reaction  reconverts  one 
third  of  the  nitrogen  into  nitric  oxide,  and  the  first  reaction 
must  again  take  place  before  the  nitrous  vapors  can  be  ab- 
sorbed by  the  water,  the  process  is  a  slow  one,  and  an  elaborate 
absorption  system  is  required.  From  the  towers  flows  a  dilute 
(30  per  cent.)  nitric  acid,  which  can  be  concentrated  by  well- 
known  processes  to  the  strength  needed  for  the  manufacture  of 
explosives. 


NITROGEN  PRODUCTS  129 

4.  In  this  connection  there  should  be  briefly  described  the 
process  referred  to  above  for  the  conversion  of  ammonia  into 
nitric  acid.  This  consists  in  passing  a  mixture  of  air  with 
about  ten  per  cent,  of  ammonia  gas  over  red-hot  platinum 
gauze,  whereby  90  per  cent  or  more  of  the  ammonia  is  con- 
verted into  nitric  oxide,  in  accordance  with  the  equation 

4  NH3  +  502  =  4  NO  +  6  H2  O. 

The  gases  are  then  cooled  and  passed  through  absorption 
towers,  whereby  the  nitric  oxide  is  converted  into  dilute  nitric 
acid  through  the  occurrence  of  the  chemical  changes  described 
in  the  preceding  paragraph. 

From  a  technical  standpoint,  this  was  the  "  state  of  the  art " 
just  before  the  war;  but  the  commercial  development  of  the 
various  processes  had  been  limited,  and  there  were  many  diffi- 
culties in  their  rapid  installation  in  this  country.  To  appre- 
ciate this,  let  us  briefly  review  the  industrial  status  of  nitrogen 
fixation  at  that  time,  and  the  economic  factors  involved  in  the 
different  processes. 

The  cyanamide  process  requires  as  raw  materials  mainly 
pure  limestone,  coke,  and  nitrogen  (obtainable  from  liquid 
air).  The  synthetic  process  depends  primarily  on  cheap  coal, 
but  it  demands  elaborate  machinery  and  highly  skilled  labor. 
The  arc  process  makes  its  product  directly  from  ordinary  air, 
but  it  requires  for  its  economic  operation  cheap  and  abundant 
water-power.  As  the  power  requirement  was  a  vital  factor 
in  this  country,  the  following  quantitative  statement  in  re- 
gard to  it  is  of  interest.  For  the  fixation  of  one  ton  of  nitro- 
gen about  10.5  horse-power  years  are  used  in  the  arc  process; 
2.2  in  the  cyanamide  process,  and  0.5  or  less  in  the  synthetic 
ammonia  process. 

The  arc  process  was  being  operated  on  a  large  scale  in  Nor- 
way, where  the  water-power  needed  in  great  quantity  for  this 
process  is  available  at  very  low  cost.  It  had  been  introduced 
also  in  other  countries,  but  only  in  a  small  way.  The  cyana- 


130  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

mide  process  had  been  installed  in  all  the  larger  countries  of 
continental  Europe,  and  in  Canada  and  Japan.  The  synthetic 
process  had  been  developed  exclusively  in  Germany,  and  dur- 
ing the  war  it  was  being  greatly  extended  there.  Had  it  not 
been  for  this  process,  assuring  a  supply  of  explosives,  Ger- 
many would  never  have  ventured  to  declare  war  on  Europe. 

On  this  continent  the  only  considerable  installation  of  fixa- 
tion processes  was  that  of  the  American  Cyanamid  Company 
at  Niagara  Falls,  Canada.  This  plant  had  in  1916  a  capacity 
for  producing  annually  12,800  tons  of  nitrogen  in  the  form  of 
cyanamide.  A  small  arc-process  plant  having  an  annual 
capacity  of  about  300  tons  had  been  installed  and  operated  at 
Nitrolee,  South  Carolina.  The  DuPont  Powder  Company  had 
also  made  complete  designs  for  the  installation  of  an  arc  process 
plant  of  the  Norwegian  type. 

The  detailed  information  and  experience  needed  for  the  in- 
stallation of  a  cyanamide  or  an  arc  process  plant  in  this  coun- 
try was  therefore  available,  being  in  the  possession  of  some 
of  our  leading  industrial  companies.  But  this  was  not  true 
to  anything  like  the  same  degree  of  the  synthetic  ammonia 
process,  the  details  of  which  had  been  kept  by  the  Germans 
a  carefully  guarded  secret.  The  General  Chemical  Company 
of  this  country  had,  however,  been  working  for  years  on  a 
modified  form  of  the  German  process;  and  soon  after  the 
declaration  of  war  by  the  United  States  this  Company  placed 
its  information  and  experience  at  the  disposal  of  the  Govern- 
ment. 

This  then  was  the  situation  in  April,  1917,  when  the  Govern- 
ment was  faced  with  the  urgent  problem  of  enormously  in- 
creasing our  supply  of  nitrogen  products.  It  remains  to  de- 
scribe the  steps  that  were  taken  to  solve  it. 

During  the  year  preceding  our  entrance  into  the  war  some 
preparation  had  fortunately  been  made.  Congress  had  passed 
on  June  3,  1916  an  act  placing  $20,000,000  at  the  disposal  of 
the  President  for  the  erection  of  nitrogen-fixation  plants  and 


NITROGEN  PRODUCTS  131 

the  development  of  water-power  for  that  purpose.  The  Na- 
tional Academy  of  Sciences  had  in  April  of  that  year  offered 
its  services  in  scientific  matters ;  and  a  little  later  the  Secretary 
of  War  requested  the  Academy  to  appoint  a  committee  to  ad- 
vise him  as  to  "  the  best  method  to  be  followed  in  the  manu- 
facture of  nitric  acid  by  a  process  not  involving  dependence 
upon  a  foreign  source  of  supply."  A  committee  was  formed 
consisting  of  leading  chemists  and  engineers;  and  this  commit- 
tee rendered  on  June  2,  1916  a  preliminary  report  urging  that 
in  view  of  the  unavoidable  delays  in  the  construction  of  ade- 
quate fixation-plants,  a  large  supply  of  Chile  saltpeter  be  im- 
ported as  rapidly  as  possible  and  stored  against  an  emergency ; 
and  that  efforts  be  made  to  stimulate  the  introduction  of  by- 
product coke  ovens  for  the  production  of  ammonia  and  hydro- 
carbons. The  committee  then  proceeded  to  make  an  exhaus- 
tive study  of  the  different  problems  of  nitrogen-fixation  under 
American  conditions,  and  in  January,  1917,  rendered  to  the 
Secretary  a  full  report.  In  this  report  the  previous  recom- 
mendations were  renewed ;  and  in  addition  the  immediate  con- 
struction of  a  plant  for  the  oxidation  of  coke-oven  ammonia 
to  nitric  acid  and  of  a  cyanamide-process  plant  for  the  fixa- 
tion of  nitrogen  was  recommended,  the  latter  plant  to  be  oper- 
ated temporarily  with  newly  developed  steam  power  or  with 
existing  power  purchased  from  private  companies.  The 
cyanamide  process  was  recommended;  for  it  was  evident  that 
sufficient  power  could  not  be  secured  for  the  operation  of  a 
large  arc-process  plant,  and  no  information  was  available  that 
would  make  possible  the  proper  construction  and  operation  of 
the  German  synthetic  process.  In  the  meantime  the  Chief 
Chemist  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines  had  been  sent  abroad  by  the 
War  Department  to  study  foreign  developments  of  nitrogen- 
fixation,  on  which  he  presented  a  report  in  January,  1917. 

This  Academy  Committee  was  later  replaced  by  the  official 
Nitrate  Commission  of  the  War  Department  with  a  personnel 
that  included  several  members  of  the  original  committee  and 
a  number  of  prominent  government  representatives;  and  the 


132  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

Commission  acted  in  an  advisory  capacity  to  the  Secretary 
throughout  the  war. 

During  the  summer  of  1917  a  Nitrate  Division  was  organized 
in  the  Ordnance  Department;  and  contracts  were  made  for 
the  construction  of  two  fixation-plants.  The  first  one  of  these 
arranged  for  was  a  synthetic-process  plant  to  be  built  at  Shef- 
field, Alabama,  by  the  Government  with  the  cooperation  of  the 
General  Chemical  Company,  employing  the  recently  disclosed 
process  of  that  company.  It  was  to  have  a  capacity  of  20,000 
tons  of  ammonium  nitrate  a  year.  This  plant  was  constructed 
during  the  following  year ;  and  one  of  the  three  units  was  com- 
pleted before  the  armistice  was  signed.  Its  continuous  opera- 
tion was,  however,  prevented  by  difficulties  which  had  not 
then  been  overcome. 

The  second  fixation  plant  was  built  at  Muscle  Shoals,  Ala- 
bama, for  the  government  by  the  American  Cyanamid  Com- 
pany. It  is  the  largest,  and  doubtless  the  most  perfect, 
cyanamide-process  plant  ever  constructed.  It  is  designed  for 
the  production  of  ammonium  nitrate,  and  has  a  capacity,  of 
110,000  tons  of  that  material  per  year.  It  was  already  partly 
in  operation  at  the  time  of  the  armistice,  but  has  since  been 
shut  down,  pending  decision  as  to  the  practicability  of  manu- 
facturing nitrogen-products  for  fertilizer  use  upon  a  paying 
basis. 

As  the  American  Army  grew  in  size,  with  still  larger  in- 
creases in  prospect,  the  need  of  ammonium  nitrate  became 
still  more  pressing ;  and  the  construction  of  two  new  cyanamide- 
process  plants,  each  with  a  capacity  of  55,000  tons  of  am- 
monium nitrate  per  year,  was  begun  in  the  summer  of  1918. 
These  were  located  near  Toledo  and  near  Cincinnati,  Ohio, 
where  surplus  municipal  power  was  available.  The  construc- 
tion was  suspended,  and  the  structures  were  salvaged  when 
the  armistice  was  declared. 

As  in  many  other  fields  involving  the  applications  of  science, 
the  war  demands  have  given  a  great  stimulus  to  the  develop- 


NITROGEN  PRODUCTS  133 

ment  of  the  art  of  nitrogen  fixation, —  an  art  which,  by  fur- 
nishing cheaper  fertilizer  and  thereby  increasing  the  crop-pro- 
duction of  the  world,  is  bound  to  contribute  greatly  to  the  wel- 
fare of  mankind.  From  the  beginning  of  the  war,  the  govern- 
ments of  England,  France,  and  the  United  States,  as  well  as 
many  of  the  large  chemical  companies  of  those  countries,  ac- 
tively prosecuted  investigation  in  this  field.  When  the  Nitrate 
Division  of  our  Ordnance  Department  was  formed,  it  estab- 
lished a  Research  Section^  and  this  actively  assisted  industrial 
companies  and  inventors  in  the  development  of  their  processes. 
And,  in  cooperation  with  the  Nitrate  Investigations  Committee 
of  the  National  Research  Council,  it  initiated  and  prosecuted 
researches  of  its  own,  in  its  laboratories  at  the  Nitrate  Plant  at 
Sheffield,  in  those  of  the  bureau  of  Chemistry  and  Bureau  of 
Soils  at  Arlington,  and  at  the  Geophysical  Laboratory  of  the 
Carnegie  Institution,  which  during  the  latter  period  of  the  war 
liberally  placed  its  facilities  and  assigned  some  of  its  staff  to 
this  work. 

It  is  a  subject  for  congratulation  that  provision  has  been 
made  by  the  Government  for  the  continuation  of  researches 
upon  nitrogen  fixation  under  most  favorable  conditions.  The 
excellent  laboratories  at  the  American  University  previously 
used  by  the  Chemical  Warfare  Service  are  now  utilized  for 
this  purpose,  funds  enough  to  enable  the  work  to  be  effectively 
prosecuted  for  some  time  are  available,  and  the  investigations 
are  under  the  competent  direction  of  some  of  our  best  research 
chemists,  who  will  attack  the  difficult  problems  involved  in  a 
fundamental  way. 

In  conclusion,  the  hope  may  be  expressed  that  this  brief 
story  of  nitrogen  fixation  in  its  war  relations  may  contribute 
to  the  purposes  of  this  volume  by  showing  the  vital  dependence 
of  military  operations  upon  the  applications  of  science,  and 
the  reactions  of  war  experiences  on  the  development  of  science 
itself. 


IX 

THE  PRODUCTION  OF  EXPLOSIVES 
CHARLES  E.  MUNROE 

SINCE  the  introduction  of  gunpowder  into  use  it  has  been 
quite  generally  recognized  that  explosives  are  essential 
in  the  carrying  on  of  war,  and  it  is  expected  that  large  quanti- 
ties of  them  will  be  consumed  in  warfare.  It  is  not  as  gen- 
erally recognized  that  explosives  are  equally  essential  for  use. 
in  industry  and  that  the  demands  of  our  modern  civilization 
for  coal  and  many  of  the  ores,  and  for  the  carrying  out  of 
engineering  and  a  variety  of  other  operations,  cannot  be  met 
except  through  the  use  of  enormous  quantities  of  these  reser- 
voirs of  concentrated  energy.  An  inspection  of  our  census 
statistics  will  show  a  constantly  increasing  production  of  ex- 
plosives until  1909,  when  there  were  manufactured  in  the 
United  States  244,622  tons  of  explosives  in  one  year,  of  which 
less  than  one-half  of  one  per  cent,  were  designated  for  military 
uses.  It  is  believed  that  the  annual  production  in  subsequent 
years,  except  that  of  1914,  was  greater  than  the  above  but  no 
U.  S.  Census  statistics  have  been  taken  except  those  for  1914 
when  production  of  all  kinds  was  lessened  during  the  last  six 
months.  All  civilized  countries  have  been  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  explosives,  though  none  upon  so  extensive  a 
scale  as  the  United  States,  during  the  last  half  century. 

For  several  hundred  years  after  its  introduction  men  de- 
pended upon  potassium  nitrate  gunpowder  alone  to  perform  all 
the  variety  of  duties  demanded  of  explosives  in  peace  or  in 
war,  and  it  early  became  the  subject  of  scientific  investigation 
and  supervision;  Tartaglia,  Galileo,  Newton,  Huygens,  and 

i34 


THE  PRODUCTION  OF  EXPLOSIVES          135 

many  other  mathematicians  and  physicists  discussed  its  effects 
on  projectiles ;  granulation  was  introduced  in  1445 ;  Benvenuto 
Cellini  observed  the  necessity  for  adapting  the  grains  to  the  gun, 
and  devised  the  system  of  blending;  Hawksbee,  in  1702,  meas- 
ured the  volume  of  gas  resulting  from  a  known  volume  of 
powder;  Robins,  and  then  Hutton,  developed  the  ballistic  pen- 
dulum ;  and  Rumford  measured  the  pressure  produced  by  gun- 
powder in  burning,  all  prior  to  the  nineteenth  century. 

In  connection  with  his  duties  in  the  office  of  the  ferniier 
general  of  France,  Lavoisier  was,  in  1775,  designated  registeur 
des  poudres,  when  he  at  once  proceeded  to  install  a  laboratory 
at  the  Arsenal  in  Paris  and  to  apply  his  chemical  knowledge 
to  improvements  in  the  production  of  saltpeter  and  in  the 
manufacture  of  gunpowder.  Among  his  pupils  was  E.  I.  du 
Pont  de  Nemours,  who  spent  some  time  in  the  royal  powder 
mills  at  Essone,  qualifying  as  a  successor  to  Lavoisier  as 
superintendent  and  who,  on  July  19,  1802,  on  the  advice  of 
Thomas  Jefferson,  began  the  gunpowder  works  on  the  Brandy- 
wine  at  Wilmington,  Delaware,  which  have  been  continued  to 
the  present  day. 

The  creation  of  this  laboratory  by  Lavoisier  may  properly 
be  taken  as  the  beginning  of  precise  chemical  investigations  of 
explosives,  and  his  example  was  followed  by  many  other  chem- 
ists, among  those  investigating  gunpowder  being  Berthollet, 
Gay  Lussac,  Violette,  Chevreul,  Bunsen  and  Schischkoff,  Linck, 
Karoyli,  Noble  and  Abel,  Hare  and  Debus. 

Although  picric  acid  had  then  been  known  and,  to  some  ex- 
tent, used  as  a  bitter  principle  and  coloring  matter,  and  with 
metal-amines,  styled  fulminating  silver,  gold  and  the  like,  had 
been  developed  as  interesting  chemical  material,  the  beginning 
of  modern  explosives  dates  from  the  discovery  of  mercury  ful- 
minate by  Howard  in  1800,  and  from  the  middle  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  on  followed  the  discovery  of  the  nitric  esters 
from  starch,  wood,  cotton,  glycerin,  sugars  and  other  alcohols, 
known  as  nitro  starch,  nitro  lignin,  nitro  cellulose,  nitro  gly- 
cerin, and  nitro  sucrose ;  of  diazo-bodies,  and  of  hydronitrides ; 


136  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

while  the  usefulness  of  the  nitro  substitution  compounds,  both 
those  derived  from  aliphatic  hydrocarbons  as  well  as  those  from 
aromatic  hydrocarbons,  and  from  many  of  their  derivatives 
as  explosives  per  se  was  established.  In  fact  Sprengel  in  1873 
stated  that  picric  acid,  a  nitrosubstitution  compound  discov- 
ered by  Woulff  in  1771,  contains  a  sufficient  amount  of  avail- 
able oxygen  to  render  it,  without  the  help  of  foreign  oxidizers, 
a  powerful  explosive  when  fired  with  a  detonator.  As  each 
of  the  parent  substances  of  these  organic  explosives  was  known 
to  be  a  member  of  a  series  yielding  similar  derivatives,  most  of 
which  through  progressive  substitution  and  isomerism  would 
each  yield  several  nitric  esters  or  nitrosubstitution  compounds, 
the  number  of  actually  known  explosive  compounds  was  very 
large,  while  they  were  greatly  exceeded  in  number  by  those 
whose  existence  had  been  made  evident  but  which  had  not, 
for  obvious  reasons,  such  as  their  scarcity,  cost,  presence  of 
objectionable  radicals,  such  as  the  haloids,  been  developed  and 
made  use  of.  In  addition  many  of  these  explosive  compounds 
were  made  use  of  as  components  of  explosive  mixtures,  as 
nitroglycerin  was  in  a  multitude  of  dynamites,  or  they  were 
modified  physically,  as  nitrocellulose  was  when  by  colloidiza- 
tion  and  induration  of  its  grains  it  was  converted  into  smoke- 
less powder.  Other  oxidizing  agents  were  also  substituted 
for  potassium  nitrate,  such  as  other  nitrates,  chlorates,  per- 
chlorates,  permanganates,  dichromates,  and  liquid  oxygen,  and 
other  combustible  agents  for  the  charcoal,  such  as  aluminum, 
magnesium,  hydrocarbons  and  cereals  of  various  kinds. 

In  1870,  as  a  consequence  of  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  there 
was  formed  a  Scientific  Committee  for  the  Defense  of  Paris, 
of  which  Berthelot  was  a  member.  He  then  directed  and  con- 
ducted researches  in  explosives,  which  resulted  in  the  accumu- 
lation of  the  mass  of  information  regarding  these  substances 
which  is  set  forth  in  his  "  Force  des  matieres  explosive,"  and 
in  the  creation,  in  1878,  of  the  permanent  Commission  on  Ex- 
plosive Substances,  with  Berthelot  as  Chairman,  which  has  been 
intensively  engaged  in  researches  in  explosives  ever  since. 


THE  PRODUCTION  OF  EXPLOSIVES         137 

Similar  research  organizations  were  created  in  other  countries. 
In  1875,  "Her  Majesty's  Inspectors  of  Explosives"  was  or- 
ganized to  supervise  the  manufacture,  transportation  and  use 
of  explosives,  with  Dr.  Dupre  as  its  chemist,  and  other  coun- 
tries have,  with  modifications,  created  similar  organizations. 
In  1877  a  French  Commission  was  designated  to  investigate 
explosives  for  use  in  coal  mines  and  similar  commissions  have 
been  established  in  England,  Belgium,  Germany,  Austria,  Rus- 
sia and  this  country.  The  United  States  Bureau  of  Mines 
has  at  its  Testing  Station  in  Pittsburgh  a  most  complete  equip- 
ment for  chemical  and  physical  tests  of  explosives  and  a  force 
of  experienced  and  capable  chemists  and  engineers.  Because 
of  the  military  importance,  testing  stations  or  proving  grounds 
have  for  a  long  time  been  an  active  part  of  the  army  and  naval 
establishments  of  many  countries,  together  with  explosives  re- 
search laboratories,  like  those  at  Waltham  Abbey  and  Neu- 
babelsberg.  In  this  country  there  have  been  for  a  long  time 
such  chemical  laboratories  at  Frankford  and  Picatinny  Arsenals 
for  the  army,  and  at  Indian  Head  and  Newport  for  the  navy ; 
the  United  States  Naval  Torpedo  Station  Laboratory  having 
been  started  in  1870  with  W.  N.  Hill  as  chief  chemist.  Scien- 
tific supervision,  accompanied  by  research,  has  in  recent' years 
characterized  the  explosives  industry.  This  is  universally 
recognized  for  those  factories  in  which  dyestuffs,  photographic 
and  pharmaceutical  chemicals  are  produced  and  in  which  ex- 
plosives, such  as  the  nitro  substitution  compounds,  appear  as 
subsidiary  products  or  intermediates.  It  has  been  the  case, 
though  to  a  less  extent,  in  those  factories  in  which  explosives 
are  the  principal  product.  Thus,  following  the  special  inquiry 
at  the  chemical  census  of  the  United  States  in  1900,  it  was 
found  that  the  explosives  industry  employed  research  chemists 
a-ul  engineers  to  a  larger  extent  than  any  other  of  the  chemical 
industries.  ^Moreover,  explosives  have  for  more  than  a  cen- 
tury furnished  attractive  subjects  for  research  by  university 
professors  and  advanced  students.  As  a  result  of  all  this  re- 
search activity  the  literature  on  explosives  is  very  extensive. 


138  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  war  in  1914,  explosives  occupied  an 
almost  unique  position  among  the  materials  which  became  of 
military  importance  for  an  enormous  number  of  them  were 
known,  a  large  number  of  them  had  been  manufactured  and 
used  so  that  the  methods  of  manufacture  and  use  had  been 
commercially  developed.  Because  of  this,  and  the  fact  that 
for  more  than  a  century  they  had  been  the  subject  of  numerous 
scientific  investigations,  their  characteristics  were  pretty  well 
ascertained.  Since  the  war  was  evidently  to  be  of  great  mag- 
nitude and  prolonged,  the  problem  with  regard  to  explosives 
was  the  selection  from  among  the  many  known  of  those  which, 
while  offering  a  large  measure  of  safety  to  the  manufacturer 
and  user,  would  prove  the  most  effective  against  the  enemy, 
and  could  be  rapidly  manufactured  and  delivered.  As  a  result, 
TNT  and  picric  acid  were  the  chief  explosives  used  as  burst- 
ing agents,  and  smokeless  powder,  either  single  base  (nitro 
cellulose  only),  or  double  base  (nitro  cellulose-nitroglycerin) 
as  the  propellents,  with  mercury  fulminate  and  chlorate  mix- 
tures as  initiating  agents  and  tetryl  or  tetranitroaniline  as 
boosters.  Black  gunpowder  played  a  subsidiary  part  as  used 
in  trench  mortars  and  pyrotechnic  devices,  while  cheddites, 
ammonals,  nitrostarch  compositions  and  similar  explosives  were 
used  in  hand  grenades  and  bombs.  Guncotton*  which  would 
have  been  more  efficiently  used  in  propellents,  was  employed 
to  some  extent  in  defense  mines  and  limited  quantities  of  ex- 
plosives such  as  ecrastic,  schneiderite  or  explosive  D  were  used 
because  of  a  special  penchant  of  certain  services. 

In  view  of  this  there  should  be  nothing  surprising  in  the 
statement  that  the  explosives  art  and  industry  was  in  such  a 
condition  of  development  and  preparedness  at  the  outbreak  of 
'*  The  World  War  for  Civilization "  that  no  new  explosive 
compound  nor  any  new  principle  in  application  appears  to  h:ye 
been  evolved  or  made  use  of  during  this  war.  It  is  true  that 
the  enemy,  to  piece  out  its  requirements,  made  use  of  hexa- 
nitrodiphenylamine  (long  used  as  a  dye  under  such  names 
as  Aurantia,  Kaiser  Yellow  and  others)  and  of  hexanitrodi- 


THE  PRODUCTION  OF  EXPLOSIVES          139 

phenylsulphide,  and  both  sides  employed  in  drop  bombs  the 
liquid  nitrogen  peroxide  explosives  indicated  by  Berthelot  in 
1 88  r  and  well  developed  by  Turpin  about  that  time  and  styled 
by  him  ponclastites.  Also  chlorinated  nitrosubstitution  com- 
pounds, which  had  been  rejected  before  the  war  because  of  the 
poisonous  nature  of  their  explosion  products,  were  tested  out 
but  not  adopted  for  use. 

A  multitude  of  explosive  mixtures  were  proposed  and  some 
of  them  were  used.  The  only  new  one  which  attained  marked 
prominence  and  large  use  was  amatol,  which  was  a  mixture 
of  TNT  with  ammonium  nitrate. .  By  its  aid  the  enormous  de- 
mand for  bursting  charges  was  met.  Its  production,  however, 
involved  no  new  idea,  for  joveite  was  a  similar  mixture  of 
nitrosubstitution  compounds  and  ammonium  nitrate.  Joveite 
was  the  explosive  which  was  tested  at  the  Indian  Head  Prov- 
ing Ground  under  Captain  Sampson  in  1897  and  which  Admiral 
Sampson  sought  in  vain  for  loading  the  shells  of  his  fleet  prior 
to  its  encounter  with  Cervera's  fleet.  It  may  be  recalled  that 
in  the  Indian  Head  tests  Commander  Couden  fired  armor 
piercing  shell  charged  with  8.25  pounds  of  joveite  through 
14.5  inches  of  the  harveyized  armor  of  the  U.  S.  S.  Kentucky 
and  that  the  shell  exploded  after  complete  perforation  of  the 
armor.  This  was  the  first  time  in  history  that  such  a  result 
was  attained  and  it  demonstrated  the  practicability  and  effi- 
ciency of  these  nitrosubstitution  compound-metallic  nitrate 
mixtures  for  shell  charges. 

The  real  problems  that  had  to  be  solved  after  the  explosives 
to  be  used  had  been  selected  were  those  pertaining  to  large 
scale  production  at  high  speed  and  the  obtaining  of  sufficient 
supplies  of  raw  material.  These  materials  were  mainly  cotton 
and  glycerine  for  smokeless  powder,  phenol  for  picric  acid,  tolu- 
ene for  TNT,  nitric  and  sulphuric  acids  with  which  to  nitrate 
each  of  the  foregoing,  ammonium  nitrate,  alcohol  and  mercury ; 
but  many  other  substances  playing  subordinate  parts,  as  puri- 
fying or  stabilizing  agents  and  the  like,  though  used  in  much 
less  quantities  than  the  foregoing,  were  nevertheless  called  for 


140  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

in  larger  amounts  and  to  be  delivered  at  more  rapid  rates  than 
had  ever  been  known  or  even,  probably,  dreamed  of.  And 
this  was  to  be  accomplished  in  this  country  in  the  face  of  in- 
terrupted transportation  which  cut  off  supplies  of  niter,  sulphur 
and  pyrites;  of  a  greatly  increased  demand  for  cotton  for 
clothing,  tents,  airships,  automobile  covers,  and  a  variety  of 
other  uses;  and  of  the  long  continued  policy  of  Germany  in 
preventing  the  manufacture  in  other  countries  of  many  of  the 
chemicals  essential  in  the  preparation  of  explosives,  so  that 
all  such  manufactures  had  to  be  developed  here  ab  initio. 

With  the  increasing  shortage  of  cotton  attention  was  turned 
to  wood  as  a  source  of  cellulose.  It  was  known  that  the  earli- 
est and  long  used  smokeless  sporting  powders,  such  as  the 
Schultze,  were  made  from  nitrated  wood  and  that  wood  con- 
tains considerable  proportions  of  cellulose,  but  that  it  was  in- 
timately mixed  with  other  bodies  which  interfered  with  its 
use  in  the  production  of  military  powders  from  it.  However, 
under  pressure,  methods  of  large  scale  purification  of  the  wood 
cellulose  were  worked  out  by  chemists  on  both  sides  and  satis- 
factory powder  produced  from  it.  It  is  claimed  that  it  was 
owing  to  this  development  and  to  that  of  methods  for  the  pro- 
duction of  nitric  acid  from  the  air  that  Germany  was  enabled  to 
continue  military  operations  so  long.  It  was  proposed  in  this 
country  to  combine  this  development  of  the  use  of  wood  pulp 
with  the  reclaiming  of  cut-over  turpentine  lands;  the  stumps 
of  the  long-leaf  pine  were  to  be  first  treated  to  obtain  from 
them  their  spirits  of  turpentine  and  resin  contents  and  the 
residual  wood  to  be  converted  to  cellulose  pulp,  while  the  land 
thus  cleared  was  to  be  devoted  to  agriculture  or  reforestation. 

Glycerin  is  obtained  as  a  side  product  from  fats  and  oils  in 
such  processes  as  soap-making.  For  some  years  before  the  war 
there  was  a  constantly  growing  world  shortage  which  became 
acute  as  the  war  developed.  In  looking  for  other  sources  of 
glycerin  it  was  recalled  that  glycerin  is  always  produced  to  a 
slight  extent  in  the  ordinary  fermentation  of  sugar  to  alcohol, 
and  this  led  to  a  search  for  and  cultivation  of  the  glycerin 


THE  PRODUCTION  OF  EXPLOSIVES         141 

producing  organism,  the  preparation  of  that  medium,  and  de- 
termination of  those  conditions  best  suited  to  its  growth.  The 
Division  of  Chemistry,  Bureau  of  Internal  Revenue,  U.  S. 
Treasury  Department,  met  with  success  in  the  employment  of 
S.  Ellipsoideus,  var.  Steinberg  in  alkaline  sugar  solutions  un- 
der definite  conditions  of  concentration  and  temperature. 
Yields  of  20  to  25  per  cent,  of  glycerin  on  the  original  sugar 
content  were  obtained  and  inedible  materials  such  as  Porto 
Rican  "  black  strap  "  molasses  were  found  to  be  the  most  ef- 
fective of  sugar-containing  materials  for  this  use. 

Phenol,  commonly  called  carbolic  acid,  benzene  and  toluene 
are  produced,  with  gas,  coke  and  other  substances  in  the  dry  dis- 
tillation of  soft  coal  and  were  originally  largely  recovered  com- 
mercially from  the  lighter  coal  tar  distillates,  but,  though  the 
coal  gas  industry  was  established  in  this  country  in  1816,  the 
water  gas  industry  in  1865,  and  the  by-product  coke  industry 
in  1892,  the  proper  chemical  utilization  of  the  by-products 
was  prevented  by  the  adroit  commercial  practices  of  the  Ger- 
man manufacturers  and  merchants,  so  that  in  1914  we  prac- 
tically lacked  these  industries.  It  is  true  that  for  some  years 
we  had  employed  by-product  coke  ovens  about  steel  works, 
where  the  richer  gas  was  used  for  heating  purposes  in  hot- 
blast  stoves,  soaking  pits  and  the  like,  and  about  cities,  where 
the  richer  gas  was  sold,  either  alone  or  mixed  with  other  gas, 
such  as  water  gas,  as  illuminating  gas.  Also,  to  meet  a  con- 
stantly increasing  demand  for  higher  candle  power  it  had  be- 
come the  practice  to  strip  the  gas  at  the  steel  works  of  its  ben- 
zene and  toluene,  by  oil  stripping,  and  to  ship  these  hydro- 
carbons to  the  gas  plants  for  use  in  enriching  the  illuminating 
gas.  Furthermore,  it  had  been  early  recognized  that  toluene 
and  benzene  were  formed  in  the  carburetters  of  water  gas 
plants  through  the  cracking  of  the  petroleum  oils  used  to  sup- 
ply the  illuminants  to  the  gas,  and  between  1900  and  1905  the 
United  Gas  Improvement  Co.  had  developed  methods  for  their 
recovery.  None  of  these  operations  were,  however,  conducted 
on  a  large  scale,  so  that  when  this  enormous  demand  came  in 


142  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

1914  and  the  succeeding  years  it  became  necessary  to  erect  pro- 
duction and  recovery  plants  on  a  scale  before  unknown,  while 
cracking  processes,  such  as  the  Rittman,  were  worked  out  to 
secure  large  yields  of  these  hydro  carbons  from  petroleum. 
The  story  is  told  in  detail  in  Technologic  Paper  of  the  Bureau 
of  Standards,  No.  117,  entitled  "Toluol  Recovery,"  while  the 
system  of  tests  applied  which  contributed  largely  to  the  suc- 
cess of  these  operations  is  described  in  Ordnance  Department, 
U.  S.  A.  Bulletin  No.  1800,  entitled  "  Methods  for  Testing  to 
be  used  in  Toluol  Plant  Operation." 

The  phenol  problem  was  more  difficult  since  securing  the 
proper  coal  tars  in  quantity  and  the  separation  and  purification 
of  the  phenol  fraction  was  too  time  consuming,  and  moreover 
conflicted  too  seriously  with  the  interdependent  industries  to 
be  available  to  any  material  extent  in  this  emergency.  How- 
ever, benzene  was  attainable  by  the  means  described  above  and 
it  was  known  that  phenol  had  been  produced  from  it  by  first 
converting  the  benzene  into  the  potassium  benzene  sulphonate 
and  then  fusing  this  with  potash.  As  unfortunately  potassium 
compounds  were  also  under  the  control  of  the  Germans,  the 
use  of  sodium  compounds  was  resorted  to,  and,  despite  the 
fact  that  previous  attempts  to  use  sodium  compounds  had  failed, 
a  careful  study  of  conditions  resulted  in  this  process  being  made 
commercially  successful.  At  the  same  time  other  methods 
for  the  production  of  picric  acid  from  benzene,  based  on  the 
latter  being  first  converted  into  chlor-benzene,  were  put  into 
successful  operation,  whereby  much  of  the  synthetic  phenol 
was  released  for  disinfection  purposes  and  other  necessary  uses. 

The  story  of  how  the  nitric  acid  problem  was  solved  is  told 
by  Dr.  A.  A.  Noyes  in  another  chapter.  As  for  sulphuric  acid, 
this  country  was  before  the  war  a  leading  producer,  if  not  the 
leader,  in  this  fundamental  chemical  industry,  for  by  1914,  we 
were  producing  annually  over  4,000,000  tons  of  the  various 
grades  reduced  to  50° B.  Extensive  plants  had  been  erected 
with  which  to  collect  and  convert  the  enormous  quantities  of 
sulphur  fumes  given  off  in  smelting  copper  ores,  It  is  true 


THE  PRODUCTION  OF  EXPLOSIVES          143 

that  many  of  our  acid  works  had  been  roasting  foreign  pyrites 
but  thanks  to  the  inventions  of  Frasch  large  deposits  of  sulphur 
in  Louisiana  and  Texas  had  become  available,  while  extensive 
beds  of  pyrrhotite  in  Virginia  and  of  pyrites  were  drawn  upon. 
Through  these  means  and  by  limiting  the  supplies  for  use  in 
the  fertilizer  and  other  industries,  in  which  sulphuric  acid  had 
been  largely  used,  the  enormous  demands  of  the  explosives 
industry  were  met. 

Ammonium  nitrate  has  a  special  interest  in  that  not  only  has 
it  been  extensively  used  as  an  oxidizing  component  of  explo- 
sive mixtures  but  that  unlike  the  potassium  and  sodium  ni- 
trates, for  which  it  was  substituted,  it  is  explosive  per  se. 
This  was  indicated  by  Berthelot  in  his  study  of  the  several 
different  methods  of  decomposition  which  ammonium  nitrate 
can  undergo  when  heated.  Its  use  as  a  component  of  ex- 
plosive dopes  in  dynamite  began  about  1870  with  the  intro- 
duction of  the  practice  of  recovering  spent  nitroglycerin  acids. 
It  was  found  that  the  weak  nitric  acid  produced  could  be  most 
easily  and  economically  reclaimed  by  neutralizing  it  with  am- 
monia, and  its  use  in  dynamites  was  largely  established  through 
the  invention  of  "  protected  nitrate  ammonia,"  by  R.  S.  Penni- 
man  (U.  S.  Patent  448361  of  March  17,  1891)  whereby  its 
deliquescent  tendency  was  overcome.  Since  then  these  am- 
monia dynamites  have  assumed  an  ever  increasing  importance, 
while  ammonium  nitrate  has  been  made  a  component  of  many 
other  explosive  mixtures  such  as  Favier's  explosive,  ammonal 
and  others  which  contained  no  nitroglycerin. 

This  demonstrated  efficiency  of  ammonium  nitrate  and  its 
suitability  for  use  in  large  scale  operations  created  a  demand 
for  it  in  this  war  which  exceeded  the  capacities  of  all  the 
previous  sources  of  supply.  Ammonium  sulphate,  produced 
at  gas  works  and  by-product  coke  works  for  use  as  a  fertilizer, 
was  available  in  large  quantities  and  sodium  nitrate  could  with 
effort  be  imported  from  Chile.  It  was  known  that  during  the 
Crimean  War  (1854-55)  to  meet  the  increased  demand  for  salt- 
peter for  the  gunpowder  then  used,  a  process  was  developed 


144  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

in  Germany  wherein  the  potassium  carbonate,  from  beet  root 
residues,  was  made  to  react  in  aqueous  solution  with  Chile  salt- 
peter as  follows : 

K2CO3  +  2NaNO3  •>  Na2CO3  +  2KNO3 

thus  hot  only  supplying  the  desired  potassium  nitrate  but  also 
greatly  fostering  the  beet  root  sugar  industry  that  Germany 
was  then  seeking  to  promote.  It  was  also  known  that  about 
this  time  there  was  discovered  in  the  sinking  of  a  shaft  at  the 
Stassfurt  salt  mines  the  so-called  abraumsalze  containing 
quantities  of  sylvite  or  mineral  potassium  chloride  and  that 
at  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War  in  the  United  States  there  was 
developed  a  method  of  producing  saltpeter  by  metathesis  of 
potassium  chloride  and  sodium  nitrate  in  aqueous  solution  as 
follows 

KC1  +  NaNO3  ->  NaCl  +  KNO3 

With  these  and  many  other  precedents  existing  it  appeared 
a  simple  matter  to  produce  ammonium  nitrate  from  the  meta- 
thesis of  ammonium  sulphate  and  sodium  nitrate  in  aqueous 
solution  as  follows: 

(NH4)2SO4  +  2NaNO3  •>  Na2SO4  +  2NH4NO3 

Owing,  however,  to  the  possible  formation  of  three  different 
phases  of  sodium  sulphate,  five  enantiotropic  phases  of  am- 
monium nitrate,  and  four  different  double  salts  with  differing 
solubilities,  the  problem  was  a  most  complex  and  intricate  one 
and  many  who  sought  to  solve  it  failed.  It  was  solved  by 
Freeth  and  Cocksedge  through  a  careful  quantitative  study  of 
the  solubility  relations  and  the  regulation  of  the  temperature 
within  narrow  limits  as  a  result  of  the  information  obtained 
from  these  data,  and  their  discoveries  were  protected  by  Eng- 
lish Patent  16,454  of  1910.  The  method  was  commercially  de- 
veloped during  the  war  at  the  plant  of  Brunner-Mond  in  Eng- 


THE  PRODUCTION  OF  EXPLOSIVES         145 

land  and  it  constituted  one  of  the  most  notable  achievements 
in  physical  chemistry  as  applied  to  explosive  substances.  An 
equally  notable  engineering  achievement  was  the  building  of 
a  plant  at  Perry ville,  Maryland,  in  about  100  days  in  which 
to  produce  300  long  tons  of  ammonium  nitrate  daily  by  this 
process.  The  plant  was  built  of  concrete,  tile  and  steel  of  the 
most  approved  construction  and  cost  about  fourteen  and  a 
quarter  millions  of  dollars.  The  results  of  its  operation  ex- 
ceeded all  requirements. 

An  achievement  of  a  quite  different  character  but  of  the 
highest  order  in  novelty  and  importance  was  that  of  using 
crystals,  such  as  those  of  tourmaline,  quartz  or  sugar,  with 
which  to  measure  the  pressures  exerted  by  explosives  as  they 
explode.  It  is  important  to  know  this  with  a  high  degree  of 
precision  for  use  in  designing  and  operating  guns,  in  charging 
mines  and  planning  explosives  operations.  Heretofore  at- 
tempts to  measure  these  pressures  have  been  made  by  the  de- 
formation of  disks  of  copper  or  lead  of  known  form  and  di- 
mensions, but  since  the  inertia  of  these  bodies  must  be  first 
overcome  and,  since,  owing  to  elasticity,  they  tend  to  regain 
their  original  form  and  dimensions,  the  methods  were  in  error 
to  an  unknown  extent.  It  was  known  that  when  asymmetric 
crystals,  such  as  those  of  tourmaline,  quartz  or  sugar,  were 
subjected  to  pressure  they  acquired  electric  charges,  which 
M.  Curie  had  found  were  proportioned  to  the  pressures  put 
upon  the  crystal,  and  the  electricity  thus  generated  by  pressure 
was  styled  piezo-electricity.  Sir  J.  J.  Thomson  applied  piezo- 
electricity to  the  determination  of  the  explosion  pressures  of 
submerged  guncotton  by  placing  a  plate  of  tourmaline  within 
the  primary  explosion  area,  the  plate  being  connected  on  each 
face  to  a  conductor  which  led  to  an  aperture  through  which  a 
stream  of  electrons  emitted  from  a  heated  tungsten  filament 
was  led,  and  the  extent  to  which  this  stream  was  deflected  was 
then  noted.  Or,  in  order  to  produce  a  pressure-time  curve,  the 
stream  of  electrons  was  at  the  time  of  deflection  exposed  to  the 
influence  of  a  rapidly  alternating  magnetic  field.  This  method 


146  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

is  applicable  to  explosions  of  gaseous  mixtures  as  well  as  to 
those  of  ordinary  explosive  substances  and  can  be  employed  in 
the  study  of  the  pressures  occurring  in  internal  combustion 
engines  as  well  as  those  in  mines  or  guns. 

An  unexpected  feature  was  the  reduction  in  the  cost  of  ex- 
plosives in  the  United  States  as  the  war  progressed.  This  is 
statistically  shown  in  Bulletin  No.  56  of  the  War  Industries 
Board  by  C.  L.  Fry,  and  it  was  due  to  the  exercise  of  good 
management  and  to  improvements  in  plan  and  methods  which 
resulted  in  increased  economies  in  operation  and  greater  out- 
puts in  the  face  of  rising  prices  for  labor  and  materials.  It 
was  also  due  to  the  relatively  small  loss  from  explosions  in 
manufacture,  storage,  or  transportation.  It  is  true  that  there 
did  occur  explosions  of  unparalleled  magnitude  at  Black  Tom 
Island,  London,  Halifax,  N.  S.,  where  2367  tons  of  picric  acid, 
250  tons  of  TNT  and  62  tons  of  nitrocellulose,  or  2679  tons  in 
all,  exploded  on  the  S.S.  Mt.  Blanc;  and  at  Morgan,  N.  J., 
where  4225  tons  of  ammonium  nitrate,  370  tons  of  smokeless 
powder  and  187  tons  of  TNT  were  involved;  and  it  is  also 
true  a  large  number  of  explosions  occurred  in  the  industry 
during  the  period  of  the  war.  But  accidental  explosions  are  a 
feature  of  this  extra-hazardous  industry  and  no  true  idea  can 
be  had  of  war-time  experiences  except  through  a  statistical  com- 
parison with  peace-time  data.  This  cannot  be  done  in  this 
matter  for  the  United  States,  since  until  the  declaration  of  the 
war  the  National  Government  had  not  exercised  any  super- 
vision over  the  explosives  industry.  But  Great  Britain  has 
done  so  in  its  domain  since  1875,  and  H.  M.  Inspectors  of 
Explosives  in  the  last  annual  report  give  a  statement  of  condi- 
tions from  Aug.  4,  1914,  to  Nov.  n,  1918.  In  this  report  it 
appears  that  there  were  produced  during  this  time  445,559  tons 
of  explosives  and  11,725,000,000  pieces  of  ammunition  and  that 
the  average  number  of  persons  employed  was  61,807,  with  a 
maximum  of  86,555.  Yet,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  work 
was  carried  on  under  high  pressure,  that  most  of  the  employees 
were  inexperienced,  and  that  they  were  supervised  largely  by 


THE  PRODUCTION  OF  EXPLOSIVES          147 

equally  inexperienced  officials,  there  were  but  1.25  per  1000 
killed  per  annum  during  this  period,  while  for  the  last  previous 
five-year  period  in  peace  time  the  killed  were  I  per  1000  per 
annum. 

Some  data  as  to  the  extent  to  which  explosives  were  used  may 
be  of  interest.  Naturally  since  magazine  rifles,  machine  guns 
and  rapid  fire  cannon  were  used  extensively  and  large  caliber 
guns,  of  greater  caliber,  more  numerously  than  ever  before, 
the  expenditure  of  ammunition  exceeded  that  ever  known.  All 
calibers  above  small  arms  used  high  explosive  shell.  High  ex- 
plosives were  also  used  in  mines  and  torpedoes,  which  attained 
dimensions  greater  than  in  former  use,  in  depth  bombs  devised 
for  attack  on  submarines,  and  in  drop  bombs  designed  for  use 
from  airplanes  and  airships. 

Data  for  small  arm  ammunition  is  not  at  hand  but  of  artillery 
it  may  be  said  that  while  the  total  number  of  rounds  fired  by 
the  Union  Army  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg  was  32,781,  the 
British  Army  at  the  battle  of  the  Somme  in  1916  fired  4,000,00x3 
rounds ;  and  that  while  the  total  number  of  rounds  fired  by  the 
Union  Army  throughout  the  Civil  War  from  1861  to  1865  was 
5,000,000,  the  United  States,  British  and  French  armies  in  1918 
fired  160,615,000  rounds.  Of  high  explosives  it  may  be  said 
that  the  75-mm.  shell  originally  designed  for  one-half  pound  of 
black  powder,  in  1918  contained  1.76  pounds  of  high  explosive. 
The  United  States  naval  mine  carried  300  pounds  of  TNT  and 
there  were  70,000  of  them  anchored  in  the  North  Sea  mine 
field.  The  charge  used  in  blowing  up  the  Messines  Ridge  is 
stated  to  have  been  466.6  tons  in  weight,  consisting  princi- 
pally of  TNT.  The  largest  single  charge  previously  recorded 
was  141  tons,  principally  rackarock,  used  in  blowing  up  Flood 
Rock  at  Hell  Gate,  N.  Y. 


X 

THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE 

/ 

CLARENCE  J.  WEST 

HEMISTS  have  always  played  a  certain  role  in  modern 
warfare.  This  role,  however,  was  always  more  or  less 
superficial.  It  consisted  simply  in  an  attempt  to  perfect  gun 
powder  and  to  suggest  new  and  more  powerful  explosives,  not 
to  make  war  more  horrible  but  to  shorten,  if  possible,  its  dura- 
tion. The  chemist  was  buried  in  his  laboratory,  in  Government 
arsenals  or  in  the  plants  of  privately  owned  ammunition  com- 
panies. He  played  no  prominent  part,  as  did  the  engineer  or 
the  medical  man.  The  introduction  of  poison  gas  and  the 
flaming  liquid  gun  by  the  Germans  during  the  year  1915 
changed  this  relationship  and  as  the  war  progressed  the  chemist 
came  to  play  one  of  the  lending  roles.  It  is  not  fair  to  the  other 
scientific  men  to  call  the  late  war  "  a  chemist's  war,"  but  we 
must  admit  that  his  was  no  mean  part  and  that  it  was  very 
largely  due  to  the  tremendous  advances  in  chemical  knowledge 
and  the  extensive  gas  program  laid  down  by  the  Allies  that  the 
war  terminated  when  it  did. 

This  honor  is  to  be  equally  divided  between  the  academic  and 
the  industrial  men.  Even  though  industry  is  always  using  the 
results  of  purely  scientific  research,  there  has  been  a  tendency 
on  the  part  of  the  industrial  men  to  decry  the  value  of  academic 
research.  This  feeling  was  entirely  lost  sight  of  during  the 
past  struggle  and  the  two  great  classes  of  chemists  worked 
hand  in  hand,  often  in  the  same  office  or  laboratory,  in  order 
that  a  common  end  might  be  gained.  No  greater  example  of 

148 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE         149 

cooperative  research  will  ever  be  found  than  that  of  the 
Chemical  Warfare  Service. 

Too  much  cannot  be  said  of  the  cooperation  of  our  Allies  in 
this  connection.  Nearly  two  years  had  elapsed  between  the 
time  of  the  first  gas  attack  on  April  22,  1915,  and  our  entry  into 
the  war.  During  this  time  France  and  England  had  to  face 
and  to  solve,  as  well  as  they  could,  all  the  new  and  perplexing 
problems  of  Chemical  Warfare.  While  the  American  army 
had  many  of  its  officers  observing  the  new  and  rapid  advances 
in  the  various  forms  of  fighting,  and  while  the  physician  was 
studying  the  new  methods  of  medicine  and  surgery,  apparently 
little  attention  was  paid  to  questions  relating  to  the  use  of 
poison  gases.  We  were,  therefore,  almost  as  unprepared  to 
face  these  problems  as  were  the  Allies  in  the  spring  of  1915. 
Once,  however,  we  took  upon  ourselves  the  task  forced  upon 
us  by  the  barbarous  acts  of  the  German  nation,  the  Allies  put 
at  our  disposal  all  the  vast  store  of  information  gained  during 
their  two  years  of  experience.  Not  only  did  they  send  us 
reports  of  work  done  and  samples  of  the  materials  used  by 
their  armies,  but  they  sent  to  us  trained  men,  with  knowledge 
of  field  and  factory  conditions,  who  were  of  inestimable  value 
to  our  scientists.  We  will  always  remember,  with  deepest 
gratitude  and  respect,  such  men  as  Lieut.  Col.  Auld,  Major  Le 
Sueur,  Major  Brightman,  Dr.  Grignard  and  their  colleagues, 
who  so  ably  and  so  willingly  contributed  to  the  success  of  our 
Chemical  Warfare  Service. 

Census  of  Chemists.  At  the  beginning  of  the  war  in  1914, 
there  were  no  indications  that  the  chemist  would  be  of  any  more 
value  than  in  previous  wars.  True,  it  was  early  evident  that 
the  need  of  ammunition  would  be  very  great,  but  even  this 
increased  output  would  require  but  a  few  of  the  hundreds  of 
chemists  of  military  age.  Therefore,  when  the  real  need  did 
come,  England  found  that  her  young  men,  at  least,  were  all 
in  the  trenches  and  that  many  of  them  had  already  given  their 
lives  in  the  great  cause.  In  order  that  America  might  avoid 
this  loss  of  potential  power,  the  first  task  undertaken  by  the 


\ 


150  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

American  Chemical  Society  in  cooperation  with  the  Council  of 
National  Research  was  a  census  of  the  chemical  talent  of  the 
country.  Since  14,500  of  the  17,000  chemists  were  members 
of  this  great  organization,  the  Society  was  able  to  furnish  the 
Government  with  such  information  that,  if  a  man  was  needed 
for  a  particular  work,  the  Government  was  able  to  place  its 
hand  on  the  right  man  and  send  him  to  the  right  place.  It 
must  be  said  in  passing  that  this  did  not  always  please  the 
younger  men  of  the  chemical  fraternity.  Many  of  them  wanted 
to  see  the  action  of  real  fighting  in  France.  Some  of  them 
tried  to  do  so  by  enlisting  in  the  actual  fighting  units  of  the 
army.  While  a  few  succeeded  in  this,  so  complete  was  the 
information  of  the  War  Department  that  the  majority  were 
secured  for  the  more  important  task  of  the  preparation  of 
chemicals  for  the  use  of  the  men  who  could  not  do  this  because 
of  the  lack  of  training  or  experience.  The  value  of  this  was 
evidenced  by  the  remarks  of  Secretary  Baker  at  the  Phila- 
delphia meeting  (1919)  of  the  American  Chemical  Society. 

Early  Organisation.  The  first  man  to  recognize  the  need 
for  a  systematic  and  detailed  organization  to  study  chemical 
warfare  was  Van  H.  Manning,  the  Director  of  the  Bureau  of 
Mines.  In  February,  1917,  when  war  between  the  United 
States  and  Germany  seemed  inevitable,  Mr.  Manning  pointed 
out  to  the  War  Department  the  peculiar  manner  in  which  the 
Bureau  could  be  of  value  in  the  study  of  the  gas  mask.  On 
April  4th,  the  first  conference  was  held,  with  representatives  of 
the  army,  navy,  and  Bureau  of  Mines  present.  This  meeting 
may  be  considered  the  organization  of  the  American  University 
Experiment  Station  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines,  later  to  become 
the  Research  Division  of  the  Chemical  Warfare  Service. 
Mr.  (later  Colonel)  George  A.  Burrell  was  called  to  be  in 
charge  of  this  work.  At  once  the  station  began  to  grow ;  promi- 
nent chemists  were  called  from  all  walks  of  life  to  fill  the  ever 
growing  need  of  information  and  more  information.  The  story 
of  the  development  of  this  wonderful  chemical  organization 
has  been  vividly  described  by  Colonel  Burrell  and  the  other 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE         151 

members  of  the  Chemical  Warfare  Service  (see  the  "Journal 
of  Industrial  and  Engineering  Chemistry"  for  1919  as  space 
does  not  permit  its  repetition  here). 

The  Gas  Service.  The  arrival  of  our  army  in  France  and 
a  study  of  conditions  first  hand  soon  revealed  to  General 
Pershing  that  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  have  a  laboratory 
on  the  field.  To  meet  this  need  the  Gas  Service,  A.  E.  F.,  was 
organized  with  Colonel  (later  Brigadier  General)  Amos  A. 
Fries  as  Chief  and  with  Colonel  Raymond  T.  Bacon  as  Chief 
of  the  Technical  Division.  Although  this  service  was  organized 
in  September,  1917,  it  was  not  until  January,  1918,  that  the  first 
laboratory  unit  sailed.  This  grew  into  a  very  important  organ- 
ization with  a  defense,  offense,  technical  and  field  division,  and 
carried  on  very  important  laboratory  and  field  investigations. 

Meanwhile  at  home  the  research,  development  and  manu- 
facturing sections  of  the  Chemical  Warfare  work  grew  by 
leaps  and  bounds  and  in  order  to  care  for  all  the  needs  of  our 
rapidly  expanding  army,  many  branches  of  the  Service  became 
involved  in  the  schedule  of  production.  -The  result  of  this 
necessarily  led  to  some  confusion  and  there  were  constantly 
growing  demands  for  coordination. 

The  Chemical  Warfare  Service.  The  result  of  these  de- 
mands led  to  the  organization  in  July,  1918,  of  the  Chemical 
Warfare  Service,  with  Major  General  Sibert  as  Chief.  All 
the  units  of  the  army  engaged  in  the  development  or  production 
of  chemical  warfare  materials  were  assembled  into  this  new 
organization.  It  was  finally  composed  of  the  following  divi- 
sions :  Headquarters,  Research,  Gas  Offense,  Gas  Defense, 
Development,  Proving,  European  (A.  E.  F.),  Medical.  Each 
of  these  was  under  a  competent  chief,  reporting  to  and  respon- 
sible to  General  Sibert.  Out  of  almost  chaos  came  order.  The 
work  was  coordinated  and  harmonized,  each  Division  perform- 
ing its  own  duties  and  working  with  the  other  Divisions  in  a 
wonderful  way.  Because  of  the  signing  of  the  Armistice, 
the  Service  was  unable  to  show  its  full  power  of  accomplish- 
ments. Some  of  its  achievements  will  be  discussed  below,  and 


152  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

these  will  indicate  the  possibilities  of  the  organization  when  it 
was  forced  to  discontinue  its  activities  on  November  n,  1918. 

The  Development  of  Chemical  Warfare.  We  have  traced 
the  organization  of  the  Chemical  Warfare  Service  and  have 
seen  that  it  grew  to  meet  the  ever  increasing  demands  of  gas 
warfare.  Let  us  now  examine  briefly  the  development  of 
chemical  warfare  itself. 

Chlorine  was  first  used  in  chemical  warfare,  both  because  it 
was  a  commercial  product  and  readily  accessible  and  because 
it  was  a  nearly  ideal  gas  for  a  cylinder  attack.  For  this  pur- 
pose a  gas  had  to  be  easily  compressible,  heavier  than  air,  and 
with  a  boiling  point  sufficiently  low  to  cause  it  to  volatilize 
easily  and  rapidly ;  it  had  to  be  toxic  in  relatively  low  concen- 
trations in  air  and  it  should  be  rather  stable  toward  other 
chemical  agents.  In  all  but  the  last  respect,  chlorine  fulfilled 
all  these  requirements.  For  months  before  the  first  gas  attack 
on  April  22,  1915,  the  Germans  must  have  been  busy,  building 
up  a  supply  of  chlorine,  developing  a  gas  cylinder,  providing 
a  mask  to  protect  their  own  troops  and  in  training  the 
"  Pioneers,"  the  men  who  were  in  charge  of  the  actual  gas 
attacks.  We  are  all  acquainted  with  the  success  of  that  first 
attack,  and  only  the  German's  lack  of  faith  in  his  own  weapon 
prevented  him  from  a  clear  sweep  of  Calais  and  England. 
About  December,  1915,  phosgene  was  mixed  with  the  chlorine. 
This  added  a  greater  toxic  value  to  the  gas  mixture  and  intro- 
duced a  second  very  valuable  property,  namely,  the  delayed 
action  of  the  phosgene.  Men  might  go  for  twelve  hours  after 
being  gassed  with  phosgene  before  realizing  the  fact,  and  then 
only  became  aware  of  it,  when,  on  slight  exertion,  they  dropped 
from  heart  disorder. 

The  cylinder  attack  had  very  decided  disadvantages  and  the 
German  soon  learned  that  he  could  accomplish  the  same  end 
with  a  much  greater  degree  of  safety  by  using  the  poison  gas 
in  shell.  Indeed,  gas  shell,  containing  lachrymatory  (tear  pro- 
ducing) gases,  were  used  almost  simultaneously  with  the  first 
cylinder  attack.  The  first  toxic  gas  to  be  used  was  superpalite, 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE         153 

usually  mixed  with  phosgene.  This  was  almost  as  toxic  as 
phosgene  and  had  the  advantage  of  being  more  persistent,  since 
its  boiling  point  was  very  much  higher.  The  manufacture  of 
this  material,  however,  wasted  tremendous  quantities  of  chlorine 
and  its  use  gradually  decreased. 

With  the  summer  of  1916,  we  see  the  introduction  of  special 
gases.  The  first  of  these  was  chloropicrin.  While  not  quite 
as  toxic  as  superpalite,  chloropicrin  possessed  the  peculiar 
physiological  property  of  causing  vomiting.  It  was  used  very 
effectively  in  connection  with  other  lethal  gases,  the  chloropicrin 
causing  the  men  to  remove  their  masks  in  the  poisonous  atmos- 
phere, and  thus  producing  many  casualties.  With  the  increas- 
ing degree  of  protection,  chloropicrin  lost  its  great  military- 
value.  Then  the  Germans  sprung  their  Sneezing  Gas 
(diphenylchloroarsine).  This  was  used  in  shells  carrying  a 
high  bursting  charge.  The  explosion  of  the  shell  scattered  the 
Sneezing  Gas  in  the  form  of  a  very  fine  cloud  of  particles. 
While  the  charcoal  of  the  mask  will  remove  most  poisonous 
gases,  it  has  no  protective  power  against  clouds  or  mists.  The 
Sneezing  Gas  passed  through  the  best  canister,  and  through  its 
peculiar  physiological  effect  caused  great  discomfort  to  the 
men  and  numerous  casualties  through  forcing  the  men  to  re- 
move their  masks.  Lachrymators  were  also  used  extensively, 
especially  in  territory  where  neutralization  alone  was  desired. 
Because  of  the  low  concentrations  in  which  lachrymators  are 
effective,  they  are  very  economical  as  far  as  the  amount  of  gas 
used,  and  very  valuable  from  the  military  point  of  view,  because 
they  cause  the  wearing  of  masks  and  thus  reduce  the  efficiency 
of  the  men. 

The  crowning  achievement  of  gas  warfare  was  the  introduc- 
tion of  mustard  gas.  The  name  '*  blistering  gas  "  indicates  its 
peculiar  physiological  property.  This  is  a  high  boiling  sub- 
stance which  is  very  persistent.  It  has  been  known  to  cause 
casualties  seven  to  ten  days  after  the  firing  of  the  shell.  It 
produces  a  severe  burn  and  the  casualties  are  usually  out  of 
action  from  three  weeks  to  three  months  or  even  longer.  A 


154  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

place  that  is  apparently  free  from  gas  may  become  dangerous 
from  the  material  volatilized  from  the  soil  by  the  heat  of  the 
sun's  rays.  It  is  stated  that  the  British  suffered  more  casualties 
from  mustard  gas  the  first  month  after  its  introduction  than 
during  all  the  earlier  part  of  the  war.  Of  the  casualties  in  the 
manufacture  of  poison  gases,  two-thirds  were  due  to  mustard 
gas.  While  the  later  gas  program  of  the  Allies  included  phos- 
gene, chloropicrin,  lachrymators,  diphenylchloroarsine  and 
certain  other  gases,  the  principal  attention  was  given  to  the 
manufacture  of  high  quantities  of  mustard  gas. 

Equally  important  are  means  of  defense.  Throughout  the 
history  of  Chemical  Warfare  we  see  tjie  art  of  defense  keeping 
pace  with  the  new  means  of  offense.  While  it  was  compara- 
tively easy  to  furnish  protection  against  chlorine  and  phosgene, 
the  special  war  gases  demanded  increased  study  of  absorbents, 
such  as  charcoal,  soda  lime,  and  specially  activated  mixtures. 
The  first  British  box  respirator  is  a  marvel  of  achievement,  and 
will  always  be  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  late  Lieut. 
Col.  Harrison  of  the  British  Anti-Gas  Committee.  And  yet 
one  can  imagine  the  disagreeable  task  of  wearing  this  mask 
with  its  tight  nose  stopper  and  uncomfortable  mouth  piece  when 
charging  over  the  top  with  fixed  bayonet  and  the  determination 
to  win.  And  while  we  may  say  that  the  problem  of  defense 
was  satisfactorily  solved,  we  forget  the  discomfort  of  the  man 
at  the  front  in  so  doing.  The  French  early  recognized  this  fact 
and  developed  their  Tissot  mask.  This  removed  both  the  nose 
clip  and  the  mouth  piece  and  increased  the  comfort  of  the  mask 
many  fold  and  the  efficiency  of  the  men  at  least, 50  per  cent. 
While  the  later  developments  in  American  practice  produced  a 
Tissot  mask  that  combined  a  high  degree  of  protection  with  a 
maximum  of  comfort,  the  unfortunate  fact  remains  that  this 
did  not  help  the  man  at  the  front  in  the  least.  At  the  signing 
of  the  Armistice  he  was  still  wearing  the  Standard  Mask  with 
all  its  inconveniences. 

Research  Method.  It  is  worth  while  at  this  point  to  discuss 
the  methods  used  in  chemical  warfare  research.  Fundamen- 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE         155 

tally,  of  course,  the  methods  used  did  not  differ  from  those  of 
the  individual  sciences.  But  here  there  was  a  combination  of 
all  sciences  practically ;  the  results  of  one  set  of  tests  decided 
whether  other  tests  should  be  made  and  the  combined  results 
decided  whether  the  "  gas  "  was  suitable  for  military  purposes. 
The  material  in  question  may  be  one  that  was  already  used  by 
the  Germans,  it  may  have  been  found  from  a  search  of  the 
literature,  or  it  may  be  the  result  of  analogy  or  pure  inspiration 
The  substance  was  prepared  by  the  Offense  Section,  research 
ability  being  used  to  secure  the  cheapest  and  most  efficient 
laboratory  method.  The  first  test  is  to  determine  the  toxicity, 
if  the  material  is  simply  a  lethal  gas,  or  if  a  special  gas,  its 
lachrymatory  power,  blistering  power,  etc.  If  this  report  is 
favorable,  then  real  research  work  begins.  Methods  of  analysis 
are  worked  out,  both  for  the  pure  material  and  for  air  mixtures. 
These  methods  are  used  in  testing  the  efficiency  of  the  standard 
respirator  against  varying  concentrations  of  the  gas  in  air. 
The  stability  when  fired  in  shell  is  determined,  and,  if  the  mate- 
rial is  a  solid,  methods  of  dispersing  it  as  a  cloud  or  mist.  If 
the  canister  does  not  furnish  sufficient  protection,  changes  are 
made  in  the  proportion  of  the  present  ingredients,  or  new 
mixtures  or  compounds  are  tested  until  satisfactory  protection 
is  afforded  by  the  canister.  The  results  of  all  the  tests  so  far 
are  then  critically  analyzed,  and  a  decision  reached  as  to  the 
probable  suitability  of  the  material  as  a  poison  gas.  If  this 
decision  is  favorable,  then  more  work  is  undertaken.  First  of 
all  it  becomes  necessary  to  work  out  a  commercial  process  of 
preparing  the  substance.  Large  firing  trials  are  made  to  deter- 
mine whether  the  boosters  are  suitable  to  secure  the  maximum 
effect  from  each  shell.  The  pharmacological  effect  of  the 
material  is  carefully  studied,  and  the  animals  that  have  been 
"  gassed  "  are  studied  by  pathologists.  These  results  are  then 
used  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  the  therapeutic  measures  to  heal 
the  lesions  caused  by  the  "  gas."  If  the  results  of  all  these 
tests  still  point  to  the  success  of  the  material,  it  is  then  ready 
to  be  launched  as  a  new  poison  gas. 


156  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

SOME  OF  THE  RESULTS 

It  is  possible  to  pick  out  only  a  few  of  the  many  scientific 
and  technical  problems  which  met  the  chemist  when  the  United 
States  entered  the  war  and  which  increased  as  chemical  warfare 
became  more  and  more  complex,  and  to  show  the  results 
achieved. 

Charcoal.  The  first  problem  naturally  to  engage  the  atten- 
tion of  the  army  was  that  of  defense.  The  Germans  were 
using  poison  gas.  And  whether  we  used  it  or  not,  it  was 
necessary  to  protect  our  men  against  German  gas.  This  meant 
gas  masks.  And  while  for  comfort  and  efficiency  the  face 
piece  was  very  important,  for  protection  the  canister  was  the 
vital  factor.  Of  the  canister,  the  filler  used  was  really  more 
important  than  the  shape  and  size  of  the  tin  box  and  even  than 
the  method  of  filling.  From  the  experience  of  the  British  Gas 
Service  we  knew  that  charcoal  and  soda  lime  were  the  neces- 
sary components  oi  the  filler.  We  needed  to  know  the  general 
requirements  of  gas  mask  absorbents,  methods  of  manufacture, 
methods  of  filling,  methods  of  testing  and  how  to  secure  the 
maximum  efficiency  for  the  greatest  number  of  gases.  At  the 
close  of  the  work  we  had  learned  that  the  following  were  some 
of  the  necessary  properties  of  a  charcoal  (not  necessarily  all). 
It  should  have  a  very  high  rate  of  absorption,  or  a  high  degree 
of  absorptive  capacity.  A  man,  when  exercising,  breathes 
about  60  liters  of  air  per  minute.  This  corresponds,  when  cal- 
culated on  the  basis  of  the  regular  army  canister,  to  an  average 
linear  air  velocity  of  about  80  centimeters  per  second.  This  is 
obviously  a  very  brief  interval  in  which  to  remove  toxic  mate- 
rials from  the  air.  Furthermore,  this  absorption  must  be 
surprisingly  complete.  The  total  result  is  that  an  absorbent 
for  use  in  a  gas  mask  must  be  capable  of  reducing  the  concen- 
tration of  gas  from  say  1000  parts  per  million  to  I  part  per 
million  or  less  within  o.i  second.  Of  equal  importance  L;  the 
absorptive  capacity  of  the  absorbent,  and  further,  that  the  gases 
be  held  firmly  by  the  absorbent.  The  material  used  must  be  of 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE        157 

a  type  which  can  be  relied  upon  to  give  protection  against  prac- 
tically any  toxic  gas.  The  absorbents  must  be  mechanically 
strong  in  order  to  retain  their  structure  and  porosity  under  very 
rough  handling  and  jolting.  They  also  must  not  be  subject  to 
abrasion,  for  the  fines  would  plug  up  the  canister  or  cause 
serious  channeling.  The  materials  used  as  absorbents  must 
possess  a  very  considerable  degree  of  chemical  stability;  this 
stability  is  composed  of  many  factors,  and  places  a  very  serious 
limitation  upon  the  materials  which  can  be  satisfactorily  used. 
The  result  of  a  very  extensive  series  of  investigations,  having 
as  their  object  a  low  breathing  resistance  canister,  has  shown 
that,  in  general,  the  use  of  large  cross-sectional  area  of  rela- 
tively fine  granules  gives  the  best  all  round  results.  Then,  of 
course,  such  questions  as  ease  of  manufacture,  and  cheapness 
and  availability  of  raw  materials  must  be  considered. 

The  only  single  substance  which  even  approximately  fulfills 
all  the  above  requirements  is  charcoal.  From  a  theoretical 
study,  it  has  been  shown  that  the  essential  characteristics  of 
active  charcoal  are :  it  must  have  high  and  fine-grained  porosity ; 
it  must  consist  of  amorphous  base  carbon ;  it  must  be  free  of 
absorbed  hydrocarbons.  On  the  basis  of  these  considerations 
the  preparation  of  active  charcoal  resolved  itself  into  two  steps : 
the  formation  of  a  porous,  amorphous  base  carbon  at  relatively 
low  temperatures,  and  the  removal  of  the  absorbed  hydrocar- 
bons from  the  primary  carbon  and  the  increase  of  its  porosity. 
The  first  step  involves  the  destructive  distillation  of  a  material 
(cocoanut  shell  was  found  the  most  suitable  wood)  at  relatively 
low  temperatures,  in  thin  layers  so  that  the  deposition  of  in- 
active carbon  from  the  cracking  of  hydrocarbons,  would  be 
avoided.  The  second  step  is  much  more  difficult,  and  was 
finally  accomplished  by  oxidation  with  air,  steam  or  carbon 
dioxide  steam,  all  of  which  were  used  in  the  manufacture  of 
gas  mask  carbon. 

In  addition  to  the  use  of  cocoanut  shell  (Dorsite),  other 
sources  were  developed,  such  as  anthracite  coal  (Bachite),  and 
a  synthetic  product  made  by  carbon  manufacturing  process 


158  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

from  lampblack,  powdered  coal  and  other  suitable  materials 
(Carbonite). 

Soda  Lime.  Charcoal  alone  is  not  a  satisfactory  all-round 
absorbent  because  it  has  too  little  capacity  for  certain  highly 
volatile  acid  gases,  such  as  phosgene  and  hydrocyanic  acid  and 
also  because  an  oxidizing  agent  is  the  best  means  of  handling 
certain  gases.  It  has,  therefore,  been  found  that  the  use  of  an 
alkaline  oxidizing  agent  in  combination  with  the  charcoal  is 
advisable.  The  material  actually  used  was  a  soda  lime  con- 
taining sodium  permanganate.  The  ratios  used  were  60  per 
cent.  6-14  mesh  cocoanut  shell  charcoal  and  40  per  cent.  8-14 
mesh  soda  lime  permanganate  granules.  The  last  mixture  sug- 
gested, which  would  have  had  a  distinctly  greater  all  round 
efficiency,  was  composed  of  75  per  cent,  specially  impregnated 
cocoanut  charcoal  and  25  per  cent,  soda  lime  containing  no  per- 
manganate. 

Due  to  the  inherent  nature  of  soda  lime,  it  was  a  very  difficult 
and  complicated  problem  to  determine  the  best  balance  of  the 
requirements.  The  activity  is  not  of  vital  importance  except 
in  the  case  of  phosgene.  Capacity  is  of  the  greatest  importance 
since  the  soda  lime  is  relied  upon  to  hold  in  chemical  combina- 
tion a  very  large  amount  of  toxic  gas.  The  question  of 
chemical  stability  and  mechanical  strength  demanded  much 
serious  thought  before  they  were  satisfactorily  secured. 

A  typical  formula  for  gas  mask  soda  lime  is : 

Hydrated  lime 45  parts 

Cement   14  parts  * 

Kieselguhr 6  parts 

Sodium  hydroxide , I  part 

Water    33   (approx.) 

The  lime  constitutes  over  50  per  cent,  of  the  finished  dry 
granule  and  is  responsible  in  a  chemical  sense  for  practically  all 
of  the  gas  absorption.  The  cement  furnishes  a  degree  of  hard- 
ness adequate  to  withstand  service  conditions.  The  loss  in 
porosity  due  to  its  use  is  counterbalanced  by  the  introduction  of 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE         159 

keiselguhr,  which  seems  to  increase  the  degree  of  hardness. 
The  sodium  hydroxide  served  to  give  the  granules  considerable 
more  activity  and  at  the  same  time  maintains  roughly  the  proper 
moisture  content. 

The  above  mixture  is  dried  to  about  8  per  cent,  moisture 
and  then  sprayed  with  a  solution  of  sodium  permanganate. 
This  acts  as  the  oxidizing  agent  in  the  finished  granule.  Of  the 
five  commercially  available  permanganates,  sodium  was  the 
only  one  meeting  all  the  requirements.  It  makes  up  about  3  per 
cent,  of  the  granule,  the  moisture  content  of  which  ranges 
about  13  per  cent. 

The  use  of  large  amounts  of  sodium  permanganate  neces- 
sitated the  working  out  of  a  method  for  its  manufacture.  It 
was  found  that  a  30  per  cent,  solution  could  be  prepared  by 
the  fusion  of  sodium  hydroxide  and  manganese  dioxide,  leach- 
ing, and  chlorination  of  the  sodium  manganate  in  the  presence 
of  a  catalyst.  Another  method  developed  consisted  in  the 
electrolysis  of  sodium  carbonate  solution  in  a  diaphragm  cell 
with  ferro  manganese  anodes.  The  current  density  used  is 
about  1 20  amperes  per  square  foot  and  the  temperature  may 
be  about  20° C.  The  anodes  gradually  accumulate  a  skin  of 
oxides  of  iron,  manganese  and  silicon,  which  is  easily  removed 
every  24  hours  by  sand  blasting.  It  is  not  feasible  to  run 
beyond  an  8-12  per  cent,  solution  of  sodium  permanganate, 
which  is  then  concentrated  to  about  30  per  cent.  Under  war 
conditions,  the  cost  was  estimated  at  about  60  cents  per  pound. 

CARBON  MONOXIDE  ABSORBENT 

Another  very  important  phase  of  work  on  absorbents  was 
concerned  with  carbon  monoxide.  While  not  sufficiently  toxic 
to  be  used  as  a  poison  gas,  it  is  a  source  of  serious  danger  both 
in  marine  and  land  warfare.  It  is  encountered  as  the  result 
of  defective  ventilation  in  boiler  rooms  of  ships,  in  pill  boxes 
and  in  tanks  and  in  mining  and  sapping  work.  In  times  of 
peace,  the  gas  is  also  a  serious  hazard  and  it  was  realized  that 
the  successful  solution  of  the  problem  of  protection  against 


160  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

carbon  monoxide  would  be  of  great  commercial  and  industrial 
importance.  Because  of  the  peculiar  physical  and  chemical 
properties  of  the  gas,  its  removal  from  the  air  is  very  difficult. 

Two  mixtures  were  finally  discovered  which  were  satisfactory 
absorbents.  The  first  of  these  consisted  of  fuming  sulfuric 
acid  and  iodine  pentoxide,  with  pumice  as  the  carrier  (Hoola- 
mite).  This  mixture  is  active  for  2  hours  at  room  temperature 
(the  gas-air  mixture  being  passed  at  the  rate  of  500  cc.  per 
minute  per  sq.  cm.  of  cross  section)  and  almost  as  long  at  o°. 
About  75-8o  per  cent,  of  the  iodine  pentoxide  is  utilized  during 
this  time.  The  sulfur  trioxide  which  is  given  off  is  removed 
by  the  use  of  a  layer  of  active  charcoal  beyond  the  carbon 
monoxide  absorbent.  But  the  sulfur  dioxide,  which  is  slowly 
formed  as  the  result  of  this  absorption,  gives  serious  trouble  on 
long  continued  use  of  the  canister.  Another  disadvantage 
arose  from  the  fact  that  heat  was  evolved  in  the  reaction  of 
carbon  monoxide  and  the  absorbent.  This  could  be  overcome 
by  the  use  of  a  cooling  attachment  (a  metal  box  filled  with 
sodium  thiosulfate-pentahydrate)  though  it  nearly  doubled  the 
size  of  the  canister.  Still  another  disadvantage  of  this  ab- 
sorbent was  the  fact  that  it  absorbed  enough  moisture  from  the 
air  of  average  humidity  in  several  hours  to  destroy  its  activity. 

Incidentally  a  simple  and  inexpensive  method  for  the  pro- 
duction of  iodine  pentoxide  was  perfected.  It  was  also  shown 
that  the  green  color  resulting  from  the  action  of  carbon 
monoxide  on  Hoolamite  could  be  used  as  a  very  sensitive  detec- 
tor for  the  presence  of  carbon  monoxide  in  air. 

The  second  and  far  superior  absorbent  consists  of  a  mixture 
of  metallic  oxides.  This  originated  from  the  observation  that  a 
specially  precipitated  copper  oxide  activated  with  I  per  cent, 
silver  oxide  was  an  efficient  catalyzer  for  the  oxidation  of 
arsine  by  the  oxygen  of  the  air.  This  led  to  the  study  of  other 
oxides  and  mixtures  and  finally  it  was  found  that  a  three- 
component  mixture  of  cobaltic  oxide,  manganese  dioxide  and 
silver  oxide,  in  the  proportion  of  20:  34:  46,  prepared  by  the 
interaction  of  silver  permanganate  with  moist  hydrated  cobaltic 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE         161 

oxide,  and  a  mixture  of  equal  parts  of  manganese  dioxide  and 
silver  oxide,  acted  as  catalyst  in  the  oxidation  of  carbon  mon- 
oxide by  the  oxygen  of  the  air.  Many  mixtures  of  widely  dif- 
ferent composition  showed  catalytic  activity.  Since  it  was 
found  that  the  minimum  silver  oxide  content  decreased  pro- 
gressively as  the  number  of  components  increased  from  2  to  4, 
a  four-component  mixture  was  finally  chosen  as  the  standard 
mixture  (Hopcalite  I).  This  consisted  of  50  per  cent,  man- 
ganese dioxide,  30  per  cent,  copper  oxide,  15  per  cent,  cobaltic 
oxide  and  5  per  cent,  silver  oxide.  The  first  three  components 
were  precipitated  and  washed  separately,  and  the  silver  oxide 
was  precipitated  in  the  mixed  sludge.  After  washing,  the 
sludge  was  run  through  a  filter  press,  kneaded  in  a  machine  and 
the  cake  dried  and  ground  to  size.  Each  step  required  careful 
control  to  insure  a  product  at  once  active,  hard,  dense  and  as 
resistant  as  possible  to  the  deleterious  action  of  water  vapor. 

Because  of  the  catalytic  action,  a  depth  of  one  and  a  half 
inches  was  found  sufficient  in  the  canister  (300  gm.) .  Since  the 
normal  catalytic  activity  of  Hopcalite  requires  a  dry  gas  mix- 
ture, it  was  necessary  to  provide  a  drier  at  the  inlet  side  of  each 
canister.  Dry,  granular  calcium  chloride  proved  a  suitable 
material  for  this  purpose.  Although  there  is  a  considerable 
heating  effect  when  the  carbon  monoxide  is  oxidized  and  also 
in  the  drying  of  the  gas  mixture,  the  heat  capacity  of  the  can- 
ister and  its  contents  and  the  rapid  dissipation  of  heat  by 
radiation  and  conduction  prevents  the  effluent  air  from  reaching 
higher  than  50°  during  the  first  fifteen  minutes  (against  a  I 
per  cent,  mixture)  and  from  rising  higher  than  90°  even  after 
several  hours.  The  cooling  effect  was  considerably  increased 
by  the  use  of  sodium  thiosulfate  pentahydrate. 

The  canister,  as  developed,  is  now  being  used  in  the  industry 
and  in  mine  rescue  work. 

AMMONIA  ABSORBENT 

Still  another  problem  concerned  itself  with  an  absorbent  for 
ammonia.  Here  again  the  work  was  a  direct  outcome  of  the 


162  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

needs  of  the  navy,  but  this  absorbent  has  already  found  very 
practical  use  in  connection  with  refrigeration  plants.  The 
previous  protection  had  been  obtained  by  the  use  of  pumice 
stone  impregnated  with  sulfuric  acid.  Such  protection  had 
serious  disadvantages.  These  were  largely  overcome  by  the 
substitution  of  certain  salts  which  form  metal-ammonia  com- 
pounds. Of  these,  cobalt  chloride  or  copper  sulfate  are  by 
far  the  best  absorbents  for  ammonia.  The  pumice  is  added  to 
a  solution  of  copper  sulfate  and  the  mixture  heated  until  the 
salt  crystallizes  on  the  pumice  and  the  crystals  are  nearly  dry. 
Moisture  that  may  be  given  off  by  the  absorbent  is  removed  by 
placing  a  one  inch  layer  of  charcoal  or  preferably  silica  gel 
at  the  top  of  the  canister.  With  45  cu.  in.  of  this  material, 
protection  is  afforded  for  5  hours  against  2  per  cent,  ammonia 
(man  breathing  at  rest)  or  for  2.5  hours  against  5  per  cent, 
ammonia.  For  periods  over  15  minutes  2  per  cent,  ammonia  is 
unbearable,  due  to  skin  irritation.  The  copper  sulfate  canister 
has  been  named  the  Kupramite  ammonia  canister  and  is  being 
manufactured  by  at  least  two  concerns  at  the  present  time. 

Absorbents,  however,  were  only  one,  though  a  very  important 
phase  of  the  work.  The  great  disadvantage  of  the  British 
Standard  Box  respirator  was  the  fact  that  the  design  of  the 
face  piece,  consisting  as  it  did  of  a  nose  clip  and  mouth  piece 
as  a  "  secondary  line  of  defense,"  decreased  seriously  the 
efficiency  of  the  men.  The  French  early  recognized  this  and 
developed  their  Tissot  type  of  mask  for  the  artillery  men. 
While  the  English  apparently  never  saw  fit  to  develop  this 
further,  the  Chemical  Warfare  Service  saw  its  great  advantage 
and  modified  it  in  various  ways,  producing  the  Kops-Tissot,  the 
Akron-Tissot,  the  Miller-Tissot  and  the  Lakeside-Goodrich 
masks.  All  of  these  were  designed  upon  the  same  basic  prin- 
ciple. The  air,  passing  through  the  canister,  was  drawn  up  into 
the  mask  so  that  it  passed  over  the  eye  pieces  before  being 
breathed.  In  doing  away  with  the  mouth  piece  and  nose  clip, 
it  was  essential  that  the  rubber  face  piece  should  be  so  rein- 
forced that  it  would  not  be  easily  torn.  This  involved  intensive 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE         163 

research  on  fabrics  and  led  to  a  very  satisfactory  material. 
Similarly  each  piece  of  the  mask  led  to  a  search  for  the  most 
desirable  design  and  the  best  material.  In  passing,  the  eye  piece 
may  be  mentioned.  Triplex  glass  was  soon  learned  to  be  the 
most  satisfactory  for  eye  pieces,  but  the  manufacturers  almost 
despaired  of  its  production,  the  per  cent,  of  rejects  being  so 
high.  Again  science  proved  its  worth,  for  the  Service  was 
able  not  only  to  reduce  very  materially  the  number  of  rejected 
lenses  but  was  able  to  speed  up  production  to  the  point  where 
the  needs  of  the  Gas  Defense  Service  were  adequately  met. 

OTHER   DEFENSIVE    METHODS 

The  introduction  of  mustard  gas  brought  other  problems  of 
defense.  The  viscous  nature  of  this  substance,  with  its  high 
persistency  and  its  capacity  to  produce  severe  burns  even  in 
low  concentrations  of  vapor,  suggested  the  need  of  protective 
ointments  and  protective  clothing.  Much  effort  was  expended, 
by  the  Medical  as  well  as  the  Chemical  Section,  to  devise  an 
ointment  that  might  act  as  a  protection  to  the  body.  While  an 
ointment  was  obtained  that  appeared  to  give  protection  against 
relatively  high  concentrations  of  the  gas  over  short  periods  of 
exposure,  it  was  learned  after  continued  experimentation  that 
no  protection  could  be  expected  under  field  conditions,  namely, 
a  low  concentration  and  a  long  period  of  exposure.  Attention 
was  also  directed  to  the  production  of  various  articles  of  pro- 
tective clothing,  such  as  underwear,  outer  clothing,  gloves, 
boots,  and  masks  for  horses  and  dogs.  Various  types  were 
developed  for  factory  use  in  the  manufacture  of  poison  gases, 
and  also  for  the  front,  though  they  never  were  used  at  the 
front. 

ORGANIC    RESEARCH 

The  organic  chemist  found  many  fields  for  his  endeavors. 
The  first  problem  to  engage  his  attention  was  a  survey  of  the 
whole  field  of  organic  chemicals,  in  order  that  he  might  have  a 
clear  idea  of  the  possibilities  of  chemical  warfare.  This  really 


164  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

did  not  lead  very  far  at  first,  and  besides,  years  of  research  and 
chemical  reading  had  given  the  German  an  advantage.  The 
best  results  came  from  individual  fields  of  research.  Here, 
again,  we  must  acknowledge  our  debt  to  our  Allies,  for  all  their 
experimental  results  were  freely  placed  at  our  disposal. 

The  preparation  of  chloropicrin  and  superpalite  was  first 
considered.  Chloropicrin  was  soon  placed  on  a  manufacturing 
basis,  the  well-known  reaction  between  bleaching  powder  and 
picric  acid  being  used.  The  logical  method  of  preparation 
should  be  from  an  aliphatic  compound,  but  no  research  revealed 
the  proper  conditions.  The  English  later  found  that  chlorine 
gas  could  be  substituted  for  bleaching  powder  with  a  great 
economy  of  chlorine,  but  the  method  was  never  used  in  Ameri- 
can practice. 

Superpalite  was  a  favorite  poison  gas  with  the  Germans  and 
was  extensively  used  in  the  first  gas  shell.  American  chemists 
could  never  discover  any  economy  in  its  preparation,  and  never 
used  the  material.  It  was  found  that  chlorination  of  methyl 
chloroformate  in  steps  in  ultraviolet  light  gave  the  substance 
in  fair  yields  but  with  a  very  great  waste  of  chlorine.  After  a 
great  many  fairly  successful  trials  the  matter  was  permanently 
dropped. 

One  of  the  large  tasks  followed  the  introduction  of  mustard 
gas  ( dichloroethyl  sulfide).  The  British  were  able  to  identify 
the  new  shell  filling  without  difficulty,  because  they  had  previ- 
ously suggested  its  use.  Their  analysis  indicated  that  the 
material  had  been  prepared  by  the  academic  method  of  Victor 
Meyer,  through  the  action  of  sodium  sulfide  on  ethylene  chlor- 
hydrin,  followed  by  the  action  of  hydrochloric  acid.  The 
logical  method  seemed  to  be  the  action  of  ethylene  upon 
sulfur  chloride.  Several  American  chemists  tried  this  reaction, 
but  were  unsuccessful  in  obtaining  mustard  gas,  because  of 
their  lack  of  information  regarding  its  chemical  properties.  It 
seemed  necessary,  therefore,  that  attention  should  be  concen- 
trated on  the  method  as  used  by  the  Germans  and  that  very 
rapid  progress  should  be  made.  This  method  resolved  itself 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE         165 

into  at  least  three  separate  and  distinct  problems  (a)  the  pro- 
duction of  ethylene,  (b)  the  reaction  between  ethylene,  chlorine 
and  water,  to  form  ethylene  chlorhydrin,  (c)  and  the  produc- 
tion of  mustard  gas  from  this  compound.  The  first  problem, 
ethylene,  was  successfully  solved  by  the  action  of  kaolin  upon 
ethyl  alcohol  at  a  temperature  of  500600°.  A  distinct  develop- 
ment was  accomplished  in  the  discovery  that  the  reaction  could 
be  controlled  more  uniformly  and  a  purer  ethylene  obtained, 
if  steam  was  introduced  with  the  alcohol  vapor  in  the  ratio  of 
one  to  one  by  weight.  The  British  found  that  coke  saturated 
with  phosphoric  acid  also  provided  a  very  suitable  catalyzer  for 
the  removal  of  water  from  alcohol..  The  second  and  third 
problems  connected  with  this  synthesis  were  never  satisfactorily 
solved  from  the  commercial  point  of  view,  for  in  the  midst  of 
this  development  Pope  in  England  discovered  the  conditions 
under  which  ethylene  could  be  made  to  react  with  sulfur 
chloride.  Because  of  the  simplicity  of  this  reaction,  the  Meyer 
method  was  entirely  displaced  by  the  sulfur  chloride  reaction. 
The  last  word  was  added  by  the  development  of  the  Levenstein 
"  reactor."  The  details  of  these  processes  were  communicated 
to  American  chemists  and  adapted  to  American  practice.  The 
success  of  the  method  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  at  the  signing 
of  the  Armistice,  the  Allies  were  producing  many  times  the 
amount  of  mustard  gas  that  the  Germans  were  capable  of  pro- 
ducing by  their  method,  and  also  by  the  fact  that  the  Germans 
were  rapidly  replacing  the  Meyer  method  by  the  Pope  method, 
details  having  been  captured  from  some  Allied  source. 

Another  intricate  field  of  research  was  found  in  the  arseni- 
cals.  The  first  member  of  this  group  was  diphenylchloroarsine, 
used  as  a  sneezing  gas  by  the  Germans.  Although  this  was  an 
old  compound  (first  prepared  in  1885),  there  was  no  satisfac- 
tory method  of  preparation  on  a  large  scale.  It  was  finally 
discovered  that  it  could  be  prepared  by  the  interaction  of 
triphenylarsine  and  arsenic  trichloride.  The  Germans  also 
introduced  a  second  type  of  arsenical,  ethyl  dichloroarsine. 
Apparently  they  used  this  because  there  was  no  suitable  method 


166  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

of  preparing  methyl  dichloroarsine,  which  is  a  more  satisfactory 
substance.  The  Chemical  Warfare  Service  was  successful  in 
its  efforts  to  develop  methods  for  preparing  both  of  these 
substances. 

Methyl  dichloroarsine  can  be  made  in  three  stages:  Sodium 
arsenite  is  prepared  by  dissolving  arsenic  trioxide  in  caustic 
soda  solution;  the  action  of  dimethyl  sulfate  at  85°  yields 
disodium  methyl  arsenite,  Na2CH3AsO3.  Upon  passing  sulfur 
dioxide  through  the  solution,  methyl  arsine  oxide  results.  This 
is  then  converted  into  the  chloride  by  passing  hydrogen  chloride 
(gas)  into  the  mixture,  and  the  chloride  is  distilled  and  con- 
densed. 

Lachrymators  also  received  a  great  deal  of  attention.  The 
French  method  for  the  preparation  of  brombenzyl  cyanide, 
which  is  probably  the  best  lachrymator  used  on  the  field  (though 
more  satisfactory  ones  were  developed  and  would  have  been 
used  during  1919  had  the  war  continued)  was  improved  and 
placed  on  a  manufacturing  basis. 

A  large  number  of  other  compounds  were  studied,  many  of 
which  were  discarded  as  useless  while  others  were  developed 
to  the  point  where  they  could  have  been  placed  in  large  scale 
production  had  the  need  manifested  itself. 

INORGANIC  RESEARCH 

Inorganic  chemistry  does  not  offer  as  many  interesting  prob- 
lems nor  as  spectacular  ones  as  does  organic  chemistry. 
Among  the  problems  successfully  solved  were  the  large  scale 
production  of  hydrocyanic  acid  (the  method  for  which  was 
later  used  technically  for  its  manufacture  as  an  insecticide), 
arsenic  trichloride,  nitrogen  peroxide,  arsine  and  fluorine. 
Fluorine  may  be  obtained  very  satisfactorily  by  electrolysis  of 
a  fused  bath  of  acid  potassium  fluoride  at  22$-2$o0C.  in  a 
copper  containing  vessel,  using  a  graphite  anode.  It  is  prob- 
able that  better  results  could  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  a 
graphite  anode,  graphite  diaphragm  and  a  graphite  containing 
vessel,  the  last  serving  as  a  cathode.  Various  derivatives,  such 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE         167 

as  boron  trifluoride,  were  prepared,  but  no  fluorine  compound 
found  any  use  in  chemical  warfare. 

ANALYTICAL  RESEARCH 

As  a  preliminary  to  the  study  of  the  properties  of  toxic  gases 
and  of  the  means  of  defending  against  them,  it  is  necessary  to 
be  able  to  detect  and  determine  these  gases.  An  analytical 
and  testing  section  was,  therefore,  one  of  the  first  to  be  estab- 
lished and  it  was  always  busy  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  all  the 
other  sections  cooperated  in  developing  methods  of  analysis 
and  testing.  The  details  of  analytical  methods  are  not  specially 
thrilling  to  anybody  except  a  technically  trained  man,  so  it  will, 
perhaps,  be  sufficient  to  say  that  satisfactory  methods  were 
worked  out  for  analyzing  every  toxic  gas  with  which  the 
Chemical  Warfare  Service  had  to  deal.  Three  typical  cases 
may  be  mentioned,  however:  the  testing  of  canisters,  the  field 
tests  for  mustard  gas,  and  the  special  paint  for  shell. 

Canisters  are  tested  on  men  and  on  machines.  Multiple 
machines  have  been  developed  which  will  test  eight  canisters 
simultaneously  at  continuous  flow  of  the  gas-air  mixture  or  at 
intermittent  flow.  The  continuous  flow  machines  are  the 
easiest  to  construct  and  were  made  first.  Since  the  man 
breathes  through  the  canister  intermittently,  the  results  with 
the  intermittent  flow  machines  resemble  more  closely  those 
encountered  when  masks  are  actually  worn  in  gas.  The  inter- 
mittent flow  machines  are  capable  of  wide  variation  both  as  to 
volume  of  air  passing  through  and  as  to  number  of  oscillations 
per  minute.  They  can,  therefore,  be  adjusted  to  simulate  any 
type  or  rate  of  breathing.  Comparison  tests  on  men  have 
shown  that  the  intermittent  machines  give  results  in  excellent 
agreement  with  man  tests,  are  easier  to  run,  and  are  much  more 
accurate,  because  they  do  away  with  the  personal  idiosyncrasies 
of  the  men.  This  does  not  mean  that  man  tests  should  be 
abolished.  They  must  always  be  kept  to  provide  for  unex- 
pected contingencies  but  they  can  be  reduced  to  a  minimum 
with  a  great  saving  of  time  and  friction. 


1 68  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

In  the  earlier  man  tests  the  men  were  sent  inside  a  gas 
chamber;  but  afterwards  the  canisters  were  connected  by  tubing 
to  the  gas  chamber  and  the  men  sat  outside  the  chamber.  This 
made  it  possible  to  run  more  tests  simultaneously  and  had  the 
further  advantage  that  the  man  in  charge  of  the  testing  could 
determine  for  himself  whether  any  given  canister  had  broken 
down  or  whether  the  report  was  due  to  nervousness  on  the  part 
of  the  subject.  All  the  toxic  gases  can  be  detected  at  concen- 
trations which  do  no  harm  to  the  individual.  There  are  two 
extremes  to  be  guarded  against.  The  man  who  is  testing  the 
canister  may  imagine  that  gas  is  coming  through  when  that  is 
not  the  case,  or  he  may  be  so  anxious  to  avoid  giving  a  false 
report  as  to  continue  the  test  too  long  and  consequently  get 
gassed  slightly.  With  the  men  accessible  outside  the  chamber, 
it  is  a  comparatively  simple  matter  to  guard  against  both  these 
possibilities. 

The  man  test  is  only  run  until  gas  is  detected  coming  through 
the  canister;  but  the  machine  test  can  be  run  farther.  It  is 
customary  to  designate  the  time  at  which  gas  can  be  detected 
coming  through  the  canister  as  the  "  breakdown."  Up  to  then 
all  the  gas  was  removed  by  the  materials  in  the  canister.  The 
99  per  cent.,  95  per  cent.,  90  per  cent,  points,  etc.,  are  the  points 
at  which  99  per  cent.,  95  per  cent.,  90  per  cent.,  etc.,  of  the  gas 
is  stopped  and  I  per  cent.,  5  per  cent.,  10  per  cent.,  etc.,  of  the 
gas  in  the  air  comes  through. 

When  testing  the  variations  in  absorbents,  the  absorbent  is 
filled  into  a  sample  tube,  of  specified  diameter,  to  a  depth  of 
10  cm.  by  the  standard  method  of  filling,  and  gas  passed 
through  under  definite  conditions. 

Trained  observers  can  detect  mustard  gas  by  smell  at  o.i  p.p.m. 
(0.0007  m£-  Per  liter)  ;  but  only  for  the  first  minute  or  two  of 
exposure.  Low  concentrations  of  mustard  gas  vapors,  when 
in  contact  with  a  dilute  solution  of  selenious  acid,  produce  an 
orange-colored  colloidal  suspension  of  selenium  which  gradu- 
ally increases  to  a  deep  brick-red  color  in  time  if  the  concen- 
tration of  mustard  gas  is  sufficient.  The  test  is  sensitive  to 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE         169 

about  i  p.p.m.  (0.007  mS-  Per  liter).  This  method  is  not 
specific  because  arsine  gives  a  similar  precipitate  in  less  time 
than  does  mustard  gas,  and  other  compounds  such  as  diphenyl- 
chloroarsine  and  butyl  mercaptan  give  positive  results.  As 
against  this,  chlorine,  hydrogen  chloride,  phosgene,  chloropicrin 
and  superpalite  give  a  negative  test  even  when  present  in  fairly 
high  concentrations. 

While  the  copper  flame  test  is  not  sufficiently  sensitive  to 
permit  of  direct  detection  of  low  but  toxic  concentrations  of 
mustard  gas,  it  has  been  found  possible  to  modify  the  method 
so  that  one  can  detect  o.i  p.p.m.  (0.0007  mS-  Per  liter)  or  even 
o.oi  p.p.m.  under  special  conditions.  The  principle  has  been 
embodied  in  a  portable  field  apparatus.  The  method  is  really 
one  for  halogens  and  is  not  specific  for  mustard  gas.  Its  use- 
fulness in  the  field  is  questionable. 

SMOKE 

One  of  the  most  interesting  scientific  studies  made  was  con- 
cerned with  the  theory  of  smokes.  The  concentration  of  the 
smoke  was  determined  by  precipitation  in  a  modified  Cottrell 
apparatus  consisting  of  a  central  wire  cathode  surrounded  by  a 
cylindrical  aluminum  foil  anode  about  i/iooo  inch  in  thickness. 
A  15,000  volt  rectified  direct  current  was  used  and  complete 
precipitation  was  obtained  with  fairly  concentrated  samples  of 
smoke  even  when  drawn  through  the  apparatus  at  a  rate  of 
about  five  liters  per  minute.  The  aluminum  foil  and  adhering 
smoke  were  then  weighed.  Microscopic  examination  showed 
whether  the  smoke  particles  were  liquid  or  solid.  The  size 
of  the  particles  in  a  smoke  can  be  determined  ultra-micro- 
scopically  with  fair  accuracy  by  measuring  the  velocity  of  a 
charged  particle  in  an  electric  field  of  measured  intensity, 
photographing  the  path  of  the  particle  while  the  direction  of 
the  electric  field  is  reversed  regularly  by  a  rotating  commutator 
whose  speed  is  known  accurately.  When  the  convection  due 
to  the  source  of  light  is  perpendicular  to  this  motion,  a  zigzag 
line  is  obtained.  Since  about  one-third  of  the  smoke  particles 


1 70  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

are  charged  electrically,  photographs  of  these  oscillations  show 
simultaneously  the  behavior  of  a  large  number  of  particles,  thus 
simplifying  the  study  of  size  distribution.  For  the  more  rapid 
study  of  smokes  an  instrument  called  the  Tyndall  meter  was 
devised  which  measured  the  brightness  of  the  Tyndall  beam 
set  up  in  the  smoke  to  be  examined.  For  low  concentrations 
of  smoke  the  brightness  of  the  beam  increases  with  the  con- 
centration and  the  degree  of  dispersity  of  the  smoke  material, 
so  that  if  either  factor  remains  practically  constant  the  readings 
give  a  measure  of  the  variation  of  the  other. 

Using  the  Tyndall  meter,  the  rate  of  disappearance  of  smoke 
in  a  confined  space  was  studied.  The  smoke  gradually  dis- 
appears, owing  to  coagulation,  to  settling  and  to  the  diffusion  of 
the  particles  to  the  wall  where  they  stick.  The  rate  of  dis- 
appearance was  markedly  increased  by  stirring  the  smoke. 
This  rate  increases  with  concentration  of  the  smoke,  owing  to 
the  increased  chance  for  coagulation  and  removal  by  the  walls. 
It  is  also  greater  for  a  finely  divided  smoke  of  a  given  concen- 
tration than  for  a  coarser  smoke  owing  to  the  increased  oppor- 
tunity for  coalescence. 

Several  forms  of  smoke  producers  were  developed  for  the 
navy  as  a  protection  against  submarines.  The  Navy  Smoke 
Funnel  consists  of  a  large  horizontal  cylinder  approximately 
two  feet  in  diameter  and  10  feet  long  with  a  hand  operated 
blast  fan  at  one  end  to  drive  air  through  the  funnel.  The 
apparatus  is  placed  on  the  deck  of  a  vessel  and  if  a  submarine 
is  sighted  a  dense  smoke  cloud  of  tremendous  volume  is  pro- 
duced for  a  period  of  thirty  minutes.  The  Navy  Smoke  Box 
consists  of  a  metal  container  8"  in  diameter  by  about  26"  in 
height,  holding  100  Ibs.  of  the  Bureau  of  Mines  Smoke  Mixture. 
Attached  to  the  cylinder  are  a  float  and  a  starting  mechanism. 
When  ignited  and  thrown  overboard,  this  smoke  box  evolves  a 
dense  smoke  for  9-12  minutes.  An  excellent  smoke  can  also 
be  obtained  by  spraying  sixty  per  cent,  oleum  into  the  smoke 
stack  of  a  ship.  One  drum  of  oleum  (800  Ibs.)  will  produce 
a  smoke  cloud  of  very  large  volume  for  one  hour.  The  smoke 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE         171 

funnel  and  the  smoke  box  are  intended  primarily  for  merchant 
vessels  and  the  oleum  smoke  for  fighting  vessels.  The  oleum 
smoke  is  also  very  effective  for  concealing  tanks,  the  oleum 
being  sprayed  into  the  exhaust. 

For  land  work  the  Bureau  of  Mines  smoke  candle  is  more 
satisfactory  than  the  smoke  funnel  or  smoke  box  because  the 
smoke  can  be  generated  simultaneously  at  a  greater  number 
of  points  along  the  front.  It  is  ignited  by  means  of  an  ordinary 
match  and  emits  a  white  dense  smoke  of  large  volume  for  four 
minutes.  A  smoke  knapsack  was  also  devised  consisting  of 
two  cylinders  which  can  be  carried  on  a  man's  back.  The 
apparatus  will  give  a  dense  cloud  of  smoke  continuously  for 
15  minutes  and  the  operator  can  regulate  the  production  of  the 
cloud  instantly  by  adjusting  the  valves  on  the  discharge  pipe. 
Two  men  can  cover  the  front  of  a  company. 

A  Livens  smoke  projectile  consists  of  a  half -capacity  8-inch 
Livens  drum  adapted  for  combustion  smoke  by  drilling  holes 
around  the  top  and  filling  these  with  fusible  metal.  The  charge 
consists  of  the  standard  Bureau  of  Mines  smoke  mixture. 
Each  shell  will  produce  a  smoke  cloud  of  very  large  volume  for 
five  minutes. 

OTHER  PYROTECHNICS 

Various  other  pyrotechnic  devices  were  studied,  developed 
or  improved,  mention  of  which  may  be  made,  but  details  of 
which  must  be  lacking. 

Gas  shells  were  developed  with  special  lead,  glass  or  enamel 
lining,  for  use  with  the  lachrymators  in  particular,  but  also 
with  other  gases.  It  was  necessary  to  use  special  precautions 
with  American  filled  shell,  since  they  had  to  stand  from  three 
to  six  months  before  being  used. 

Hand  grenades  were  developed  and  improved,  all  types 
(H.  E.,  gas,  smoke  and  incendiary)  being  studied.  Special 
training  grenades  were  developed,  which  later  offered  promise 
of  field  use. 

Flaming  liquid  guns  were  developed  but  owing  to  the  gener- 


i72  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

ally  unsatisfactory  nature  of  this  form  of  warfare  they  were 
never  used. 

A  great  deal  of  work  was  done  on  the  subject  of  incendiary 
drop  bombs,  shell,  and  darts.  Of  the  drop  bombs,  a  final 
successful  type  was  a  100  Ib.  bomb,  containing  thermit  and  solid 
oil.  Two  types  of  darts  were  made.  One  was  a  non-pene- 
trating type,  weighing  5.6  oz.  The  other  weighed  3  Ibs.,  and 
had  a  penetrating  head.  Large  numbers  of  each  type  were 
intended  to  be  dropped  from  an  airplane  at  once.  The  incen- 
diary shell  contained  about  3  ft.  of  strands  of  chlorated  jute 
rope. 

Signal  lights,  flares  and  rockets  were  developed  to  a  marked 
degree  of  perfection. 

New  types  of  Stokes  mortars,  Liven's  projectiles  and  other 
ordnance  material  also  were  subjects  of  investigation  on  the 
part  of  the  Chemical  Warfare  Service. 

One  interesting  development  had  to  do  with  new  work  on 
the  French  explosive,  anilite.  As  used  by  the  French,  this 
explosive  consists  of  two  materials,  kept  in  separate  compart- 
ments in  a  two-compartment  bomb.  At  the  instant  of  fire,  the 
two  materials  mix  and  explode.  The  mixture  was  finally  made 
stable  enough  so  that  the  two  materials  could  be  kept  in  a  one- 
compartment  bomb. 

PERMANENT  RESULTS  OF  THE   WORK 

In  closing,  we  may  quote  Colonel  G.  A.  Burrell  : 
"  Out  of  the  war,  with  its  tremendous  waste  and  suffering, 
have  come  many  important  and  permanent  things  for  humanity 
at  large.  This  is  especially  true  in  this  country,  where  the 
resources  of  the  nation  were  not  taxed  to  exhaustion  or  any- 
where near  it.  Lessons  have  been  taught  in  the  aeroplane, 
transportation,  food,  and  other  services  that  will  produce  last- 
ing and  revolutionizing  effects.  The  same  is  true  of  the 
Chemical  Warfare  Service.  It  is  inconceivable  that  this  service 
with  a  personnel  of  thousands  of  people,  and  comprising  much 
of  the  best  talent  of  the  country,  should  not  leave  its  imprint  on 


THE  CHEMICAL  WARFARE  SERVICE         173 

chemistry  in  this  country.  Organic,  physical,  biological, 
analytical  chemists,  etc.,  joined  forces  in  one  huge  cooperative 
scheme.  As  a  result,  the  organic  chemist  appreciated  more 
fully  the  things  in  physical  chemistry,  and  vice  versa,  and  dis- 
covered how  well  the  two  branches  working  closely  together 
could  solve  problems  which  might  baffle  one  branch  alone. 
Chemists  learned  more  fully  the  great  importance  of  certain 
branches  of  biological  chemistry,  and  biologists  got  much  from 
the  other  branches  of  chemistry.  All  learned  the  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  large  scale  manufacturing,  and  thought  about  all 
of  their  results  in  terms  of  production.  They  appreciated  more 
fully  than  ever  before  that  usually  there  exists  a  long  and 
tedious  path  between  laboratory  test  tube  experiments  and  a 
successful  manufacturing  process  developed  from  those  test 
tube  results.  More  research  has  been  crowded  into  a  short 
space  of  time  by  one  single  group  than  ever  before.  Chemists 
from  all  parts  of  the  country  met  for  a  single  purpose,  High 
class  men  who  had  scarcely  a  speaking  acquaintance  with  each 
other  before  the  war  became  lasting  friends,  exchanging  ideas 
on  research,  education,  factory  management,  etc.  Many  young 
men  of  extraordinary  latent  ability  have  been  developed,  and 
some  of  the  older  men  have  shown  their  many  colleagues  that 
they  were  better  adapted  for  and  could  do  a  first-class  job 
along  lines  somewhat  different  from  their  accustomed  duties. 
All  of  these  things  will  have  an  important  bearing  on  chemistry 
in  this  country.  It  may,  indeed,  constitute  an  epoch  in  the 
science. 

"  The  direct  fruits  of  the  work  are,  of  course,  adapted  for 
chemical  warfare.  It  is  possible  that  gas  warfare  may  be 
outlawed  because  of  its  tremendous  and  fearful  possibilities, 
so  that  many  of  the  devices  developed  for  chemical  warfare 
will  never  be  used  in  the  future.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
thought  that  went  into  the  development  of  these  devices  cannot 
be  destroyed.  Men  received  an  intensive  training  during  the 
development  by  which  they  will  profit. "  It  is  also  true  that 
some  of  the  results  have  direct  and  important  applications  to 


174  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

the  industries.  ^  This  is  certainly  true  of  gas  masks,  and  the 
absorbents  in  gas  masks  can  be  used  for  a  diversity  of  purposes. 
The  charcoal  especially  is  an  extraordinary  absorbent  or  cata- 
lyst for  a  variety  of  purposes.  Analytical  chemistry  received 
an  impetus.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  never  before  was  so 
much  work  done  in  so  short  a  space  of  time  on  the  refinement  of 
analytical  methods,  necessary  in  order  to  measure  gases  in  so 
great  dilution  as  one  part  in  ten  million  or  twenty  million.  The 
Friedel  and  Crafts  reaction  was  successfully  put  in  operation 
on  a  larger  scale  than  ever  before  in  this  country.  For  every 
offense  problem  there  was  a  defense  one,  and  the  defense  prob- 
lems worked  out  for  protection  of  American  soldiers  will  bear 
fruit  in  protecting  American  workers  in  industries." 


THE  ROLE  OF 

THE  EARTH  SCIENCES 

IN  THE  WAR 


XI 

CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOGRAPHY 
DOUGLAS  W.  JOHNSON 

ONE  evening  during  the  war  there  gathered  at  the  Cercle 
Interallie  in  Paris  a  group  of  six  or  eight  British,  French, 
and  American  geographers  and  geologists,  to  compare  notes 
and  profit  by  the  sharing  of  experiences.  One  had  just  come 
to  Paris  from  British  General  Headquarters  to  search  libraries 
and  university  laboratories  for  material  needed  in  his  work  of 
supplying  to  the  British  armies  information  about  the  surface 
features  of  Northern  France.  Two  were  engaged  as  geo- 
graphical experts  on  the  French  Comite  d'fitudes,  an  organiza- 
tion charged  with  assembling  scientific  data  which  would  be 
needed  by  the  French  representatives  at  the  coming  Peace  Con- 
ference. Another  was  a  member  of  the  "  Inquiry,"  a  similar 
organization  created  in  America  by  Colonel  House  at  the 
direction  of  the  President,  and  was  at  that  time  in  Paris  on  duty 
for  the  "  Inquiry  "  and  as  foreign  representative  of  the  Division 
of  Geology  and  Geography  of  the  National  Research  Council. 
Three  were  members  of  the  Commission  de  Geographic,  a 
branch  of  the  Service  Geographique  of  the  French  Army, 
occupied  with  the  task  of  supplying  the  fighting  forces  of 
France  with  detailed  geographical  information  about  every 
region  where  those  forces  might  be  called  upon  to  operate. 
One  had  assisted  in  training  future  officers  of  the  American 
Army  in  geographical  methods,  and  was  now  at  the  head  of  a 
war  work  bureau  in  France.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the 
hazards  of  war  could  throw  together  in  one  place  such  a  group 
of  men,  each  of  whom  had  been  actively  engaged  in  placing 

177 


i;8  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

earth  science  at  the  service  of  the  Allies  in  order  to  hasten  the 
day  of  victory.  And  the  fact  loses  none  of  its  significance 
when  we  add  that  not  one  of  these  men  was  satisfied  that  full 
advantage  was  being  taken  of  the  possibilities  of  his  science 
as  an  aid  in  war. 

It  is  not  the  purpose  of  the  present  writer  to  criticize  the 
shortcomings  of  our  own  or  any  other  government  in  utilizing 
earth  science  in  the  military  program.  It  is  rather  my  purpose 
to  regard  the  brighter  side  of  the  shield,  and  to  show  by  a  brief 
review  of  pertinent  facts  that  geography  and  geology  did  at 
least  play  an  important  role  in  the  common  task  of  wresting 
victory  from  the  enemy.  In  accomplishing  this  purpose  I  can- 
not pretend  to  describe,  nor  even  mention,  all  the  channels 
through  which  the  geographer  and  geologist  made  their  impor- 
tant contributions.  I  must  content  myself  with  a  very  imper- 
fect account  of  some  aspects  only  of  the  work  done  in  these  two 
sciences,  aspects  which  happened  to  fall  under  my  personal 
observation.  Fortunately,  that  of  itself  is  sufficient  to  demon- 
strate the  great  possibilities  of  these  sciences  as  military  ad- 
juncts, should  their  full  strength  ever  be  mobilized  in  the 
country's  service.  Let  me  begin  at  random  with  a  short  state- 
ment of  some  of  the  first  efforts  of  our  British  colleagues. 

Early  in  the  war  Dr.  H.  N.  Dickson,  Professor  of  Geography 
at  University  College,  Reading,  appreciating  the  importance  of 
geography  in  connection  with  military  operations,  sought  to 
establish  a  geographical  bureau  in  connection  with  one  of  the 
departments  of  the  British  Government.  At  that  time  the 
War  Office  was  so  crowded  with  work  that  he  turned  to  the 
Admiralty  where  there  was  less  confusion,  and  under  its  aus- 
pices established  a  geographical  bureau  manned  by  a  staff  of 
men  and  women  who  were  for  the  most  part  volunteers  serving 
without  pay.  At  the  beginning  his  staff  was  housed  in  the 
rooms  of  the  Royal  Geographical  Society,  but  it  soon  increased 
to  such  a  size  that  special  quarters  were  necessary,  and  these 
were  secured  by  utilizing  Hertford  House  in  Manchester 
Square,  an  art  gallery  containing  the  Wallace  Collections.  The 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOGRAPHY  179 

collections  were  in  large  part  removed,  temporary  walls  and 
doors  were  erected,  and  a  great  staff  of  workers  was  soon  turn- 
ing out  large  volumes  of  geographical  material  for  use  by  the 
British  Army  and  Navy.  Here  the  visitor  found  one  gallery 
filled  with  long  tables,  each  table  devoted  to  a  particular  region 
such  as  Hungary,  Belgium,  or  Serbia,  filled  with  appropriate 
books  and  maps,  and  presided  over  by  a  specialist  assigned  to 
prepare  a  monograph  on  that  region.  A  number  of  assistants, 
most  of  them  men  and  some  of  them  army  officers,  served  under 
each  specialist.  In  another  gallery  a  corps  of  translators, 
mostly  women,  were  at  work  translating  and  abstracting  such 
foreign  reports  as  the  specialists  and  their  assistants  might 
desire.  Two  other  rooms  were  equipped  with  drawing  tables, 
and  here,  perhaps,  a  dozen  or  so  draughtsmen  and  cartographers 
were  busy  making  maps.  One  or  two  rooms  were  devoted  to 
the  meteorological  staff,  which  assembled  data  and  prepared 
maps  and  charts  for  this  branch  of  the  service.  It  was  an 
impressive  sight  to  witness  this  great  body  of  scientific  workers 
busy  at  the  task  of  collecting  geographical  data  for  the  use  of 
Britain's  fighting  forces. 

Many  of  the  reports  prepared  by  this  geographical  staff 
were  of  a  highly  confidential  character;  but  it  is  permissible  to 
state  that  the  documents  issued  included  a  series  of  "  Hand- 
books "  describing  the  climate,  topography,  economic  resources, 
transportation  routes,  and  political  geography  of  the  many 
regions  in  which  the  British  soldier  might  be  called  to  fight  in 
a  world  war;  more  elaborate  "Manuals"  of  certain  regions 
or  problems  of  special  significance,  accompanied  by  Atlases  of 
detailed  maps  portraying  the  topography,  geology,  rainfall, 
economic  products,  railways  and  other  lines  of  communications, 
distribution  of  races  and  languages,  and  other  geographical  data 
which  might  be  useful  in  very  detailed  studies;  new  maps  of 
regions  for  which  satisfactory  cartographic  material  had  not 
previously  been  published,  and  special  maps  and  reports  to 
elucidate  a  variety  of  problems  for  the  solution  of  which  differ- 
ent departments  of  the  Government  asked  geographical 


i8o  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

assistance;  and  charts  of  pressures,  winds,  and  other  meteoro- 
logical elements  for  use  by  the  flying  forces  of  both  the  army 
and  navy.  Much  credit  is  due  to  Professor  Dickson  for  fore- 
seeing, and  to  his  large  staff  of  assistants  for  supplying,  a  wide 
range  of  geographic  needs  of  Britain's  fighting  machine. 

But  it  was  not  alone  in  the  Admiralty  that  geographic  work 
for  war  purposes  was  being  prosecuted,  although  we  have  seen 
that  Professor  Dickson  found  a  better  opening  there  than  in 
the  War  Office.  The  Department  of  Military  Intelligence  of 
the  latter  bureau  included  in  its  complex  organization  the 
Geographic  Section  of  the  General  Staff,  whose  chief  was 
Colonel  W.  C.  Hedley,  and  under  whose  direction  were  pre- 
pared the  countless  maps  upon  which  the  British  armies  fought 
their  way  to  victory.  It  was  this  same  geographic  section  which 
also  prepared  many  of  the  maps  used  at  the  Peace  Conference. 
In  the  various  branches  of  the  Department  of  Military  Intelli- 
gence professional  historians,  geographers,  and  other  experts, 
commissioned  as  officers  of  the  General  Staff,  were  busy 
throughout  the  war  studying  frontier  and  other  geographical 
problems;  and  at  the  Peace  Conference  they  contributed  their 
part  to  the  making  of  the  treaties.  Among  the  younger  geo- 
graphers well  known  to  Americans  was  Captain  A.  S.  Ogilvie, 
who  was  recalled  from  the  Balkans  where  he  had  utilized  his 
special  training  in  making  new  maps  for  the  military  forces,  to 
become  an  active  participant  at  Paris  in  the  geographical  work 
of  delimiting  the  new  frontiers  of  Europe. 

The  Royal  Geographical  Society,  always  more  closely  in 
touch  with  its  Government  than  is  commonly  the  case  with  the 
geographical  societies  of  America,  set  for  itself  tasks  of  no 
small  magnitude.  Thus  under  the  direction  of  its  President, 
Sir  Thomas  Holdich,  the  Society  undertook  the  preparation 
of  a  topographic  map  of  Europe  and  the  Near  East  on  a  scale 
of  I  :i,ooo,ooo,  a  similar  map*of  Africa  on  a  scale  of  i  12,000,000 
and  a  map  of  Asia  on  a  scale  of  1 :5,ooo,ooo.  These  maps  were 
designed  for  various  uses  by  the  War  Office,  and  for  certain 
of  the  peace  conference  work.  For  the  Foreign  Office  the 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOGRAPHY  181 

Society  also  issued  a  series  of  wall  maps  showing  "  Historical 
Boundaries  in  Europe/'  using  grouped  sheets  of  the  1 : 1,000,000 
map  as  a  base,  and  showing  successive  boundaries  in  different 
cplors.  These  boundaries  were  drawn  with  great  care,  on  the 
basis  of  extended  research,  and  represented  a  valuable  contribu- 
tion to  the  work  of  preparing  for  the  peace  discussions.  These 
are  not  all,  but  merely  important  examples  of  the  activities  of 
the  Royal  Geographical  Society  in  the  service  of  its  country. 

If  one  left  London  and  crossed  the  Channel  to  the  British 
front  in  France,  seeking  evidence  that  the  science  of  geography 
was  doing  its  share  in  war  work,  he  was  not  disappointed. 
From  the  general  headquarters  of  the  British  Expeditionary 
Force,  down  through  the  separate  Army  Corps  and  lesser 
headquarters,  to  the  most  humble  artillery  observation  post, 
he  found  everywhere  overwhelming  testimony  that  an  army 
fights  on  its  maps,  just  as  truly  as  on  its  stomach.  Maps  of 
many  types,  of  many  scales,  in  many  colors,  showing  every 
variety  of  information  and  used  for  every  conceivable  purpose, 
tens  of  thousands,  hundreds  of  thousands  of  maps  —  such  was 
the  contribution  of  the  topographer  and  cartographer  to  the 
winning  of  the  war.  Not  least  among  the  serious  consequences 
of  a  big  German  advance  was  the  fact  that  it  pushed  the  Allied 
armies  off  of  areas  accurately  mapped  on  large  scales,  and  into 
back  areas  where  only  smaller  scales  and  less  accurate  maps 
were  available.  This  not  only  imposed  on  the  engineers  and 
the  geographical  sections  of  the  staffs  a  heavy  burden  of  work 
at  a  critical  time,  but  made  less  effective  artillery  fire  on  the 
German  back  areas,  since  the  enemy  also  had  moved  into  regions 
for  which  the  Allies  possessed  no  accurate  large-scale  maps. 
In  many'  cases  maps  carried  information  of  such  high  value 
that  it  was  forbidden  to  take  them  into  the  front-line  trenches, 
lest  an  unexpected  enemy  raid  should  give  them  into  the  pos- 
session of  the  Germans ;  and  the  capture  of  similar  maps  from 
the  Germans  was  always  a  happy  event. 

To  supplement  the  representation  of  the  earth's  surface  by 
maps,  and  to  render  more  realistic  the  forms  of  the  hills  and 


i&2  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

valleys,  relief  models  were  employed  in  large  numbers.  Field 
Marshal  Sir  Douglas  Haig,  when  asked  some  question  on  a 
geographical  point,  drew  from  a  chest  a  small-scale  relief 
model  of  the  battle  front  and  with  its  aid  elucidated  his  answers. 
Before  some  of  the  most  important  engagements,  a  large-scale 
relief  model  of  the  battle  area  was  constructed,  and  officers 
rehearsed  the  coming  attack  while  studying  this  miniature  repre- 
sentation of  every  hill,  valley,  knoll,  and  ravine  which  they 
would  have  to  cross.  No  class  in  the  geographical  laboratory 
ever  gathered  around  geographical  models  with  such  breathless 
interest  as  did  those  British  officers  who  studied  in  this  way 
the  slopes  of  Messines  and  Vimy  Ridges ;  for  to  them  to  know 
the  detailed  geography  of  those  critical  areas  was  literally  a 
matter  of  life  and  death. 

Weather  prediction  became  a  subject  of  constantly  increasing 
importance  as  the  war  progressed.  Battle  plans  depended  upon 
possible  weather  changes,  and  a  knowledge  of  the  conditions 
of  the  higher  layers  of  the  atmosphere  was  more  and  more 
imperative  as  the  flying  forces  grew  in  size  and  increased  the 
scope  of  their  activities.  When  the  use  of  poison  gases  de- 
veloped, wind  direction  and  possible  wind  changes  assumed  a 
new  significance.  Weather  conditions  at  sea  must  be  known 
in  advance  to  direct  properly  the  marine  flying  corps  and  the 
operations  of  the  fleets  engaged  in  combatting  the  submarine 
menace.  It  was  not  surprising,  therefore,  to  find  at  the  front, 
in  the  flying  camps  and  along  the  sea  coast  large  numbers  of 
meteorologists,  experts  on  the  physical  geography  of  the  air, 
placing  their  special  knowledge  at  the  service  of  army  and  navy. 

Were  the  French  equally  alive  to  the  importance  of 
geography  in  the  war  ?  Did  their  admirable  army  organization 
provide  place  for  a  staff  of  geographical  experts?  Let  us  visit 
Paris  first,  then  the  army  fronts,  to  find  answers  to  these  ques- 
tions. 

Leave  the  Place  de  la  Concorde,  cross  the  Seine,  and  pass 
by  the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  When  you  reach  the  Rue  de 
Crenelle,  turn  to  your  right.  A  big  auto-camion  driven  by  a 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOGRAPHY  183 

French  soldier  is  just  emerging  from  the  unpretentious  archway 
of  No.  140.  You  note  that  the  camion  is  filled  with  great 
bundles  of  what  may  be  maps,  so  you  enter  the  archway  and 
find  yourself  in  an  open  court,  surrounded  by  a  series  of  low 
buildings,  some  of  them  mere  temporary  structures.  This  is 
the  headquarters  of  the  Service  Geographique  de  TAnnee.  In 
a  small  office  at  the  head  of  a  dark  stairway  you  would  have 
found  all  through  the  anxious  months  when  the  decision  of 
arms  hung  in  the  balance,  the  distinguished  figure  of  the  chief 
of  the  service,  General  Bourgeois.  Under  his  efficient  direction 
the  science  of  geography  was  standing  behind  the  blue-coated 
man  behind  the  gun. 

Had  you  inquired  into  the  organization  of  the  Service  you 
would  have  discovered  that  it  included  a  section  of  Geodesy 
(in  which  little  or  no  geodetic  work  was  then  being  done), 
and  an  affiliated  section  which  directed  the  highly  important 
work  of  determining  the  precise  geographic  location  of  enemy 
guns  by  triangulating,  with  special  instruments,  for  the  position 
of  their  flashes  and  for  the  points  of  origin  of  the  sound  of 
their  explosions.  Another  section  was  charged  with  topo- 
graphic surveying  along  the  front,  for  in  the  midst  of  the  war 
new  maps,  including  one  series  on  the  large  scale  of  nearly 
6  inches  to  the  mile,  were  being  prepared  for  portions  of  the 
front.  The  general  impression  that  no  detailed  mapping  for 
military  purposes  would  be  necessary  in  a  country  so  well 
mapped  as  France,  is  not  correct.  Although  a  part  of  the 
front  had  been  mapped  on  a  scale  of  1 150,000  before  the  war, 
and  contour  maps  on  a  scale  of  1 120,000  had  since  been  made 
for  the  whole  front  partly  on  the  basis  of  new  surveys  and 
partly  by  enlarging  and  adapting  smaller  scale  maps  of  earlier 
date,  the  German  advances  forced  the  line  back  into  territory 
for  which  the  best  topographic  data  available  was  that  used  in 
preparing  the  old  i  :8o,ooo  £tat  Major  hachure  sheets.  When 
these  were  enlarged  to  the  i  :5o,ooo  and  1 120,000  scale,  and 
printed  with  a  grille  for  control  of  artillery  fire,  it  was  found 
that  they  were  so  inaccurate  as  materially  to  impair  the  effec- 


184  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

tiveness  of  artillery  operations.  It  was,  therefore,  necessary 
to  make  new  surveys  back  of  the  front,  and  up  to  the  limit  of 
observation  of  the  terrain  held  by  the  enemy,  in  order  that  both 
at  that  time  and  in  case  of  a  future  enemy  advance  the  enemy 
would  be  on  ground  of  which  the  Allies  should  possess  accurate 
maps. 

The  section  of  Cartography,  with  its  subsections  on  Draw- 
ing, Photography,  Engraving,  and  Printing,  handled  the  gigan- 
tic task  of  publishing  the  incredible  "quantities  of  maps  needed 
by  every  branch  of  the  French  and  Allied  armies;  for  the 
Service  Geographique  served  not  merely  the  needs  of  its  own 
armies,  but  placed  its  facilities  at  the  disposal  of  its  Allies 
whenever  this  would  contribute  to  the  success  of  the  common 
end.  The  magnitude  of  the  cartographic  work  performed  by 
the  Service  Geographique  could  only  be  appreciated  by  one 
who  saw  day  after  day,  great  auto-trucks  being  loaded  with 
maps  to  be  despatched  to  the  various  army  headquarters.  Map 
printing  establishments  throughout  the  country  were  comman- 
deered by  the  army,  and  it  was  practically  impossible  at  that 
time  to  get  a  map  printed  anywhere  in  France  without  an  army 
order.  All  of  this  work  was,  of  course,  in  addition  to  the  large 
number  of  maps  of  all  kinds  prepared  and  printed  by  the 
different  army  headquarters  at  the  front. 

Maps  of  foreign  countries  were  purchased  or  reproduced 
under  direction  of  the  section  of  "  Cartographic  Etrangere." 
In  addition  there  was  a  section  to  handle  the  geographic  equip- 
ment (field  glasses,  surveying  instruments,  instruments  required 
in  the  artillery  service,  etc.),  a  Printing  Section,  a  section  to 
prepare  geographic  monographs  of  countries  where  the  Allied 
armies  might  operate,  and  a  section  to  construct  relief  models 
of  all  the  battle  fronts.  Those  who  have  imagined  that  the 
fighting  forces  of  our  Allies  paid  little  heed  to  the  geographer 
and  his  science,  may  well  stand  amazed  at  the  scope  of  the 
organization  of  the  French  Service  Geographique. 

Across  the  street  from  the  main  headquarters  of  the  Service 
was  an  ordinary  French  apartment  house  of  the  older  type, 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOGRAPHY  185 

and  up  its  four  flights  of  rickety,  winding  stairs,  was  a  door 
bearing  a  small  cardboard  sign,  "  Commission  de  Geo- 
graphic." The  key  was  usually  in  the  lock,  and  one  might 
enter  at  will,  to  find  two  small,  bare  rooms,  containing  less 
furniture  and  more  brains  than  one  would  ordinarily  expect  to 
find  in  a  government  bureau.  Bending  over  small  tables 
heaped  high  with  maps  and  books  were  the  men  who  have 
made  French  geography  known  to  the  world:  Emanuel  de 
Martonne,  son-in-law  of  Vidal  de  la  Blache  and  Professor  of 
Physical  Geography  at  the  University  of  Paris ;  Antoine  Vacher, 
Professor  of  Geography  at  the  University  of  Lille ;  Lucien  Gal- 
lois,  editor  of  the  Annales  de  Geographic  as  well  as  Professor  at 
the  Sorbonne;  Albert  Demangeon,  also  of  the  Sorbonne  where 
he  has  charge  of  the  work  in  Human  Geography.  Assisted 
by  other  geographers  of  note  and  by  some  of  their  students  in 
uniform,  these  men  constituted  the  section  of  the  Service 
Geographique  known  as  the  "  Commission  de  Geographic," 
and  labored  day  and  night  to  prepare  for  the  French  Army 
a  series  of  confidential  geographical  reports  for  all  areas  where 
military  operations  might  become  necessary,  and  for  all  of  the 
enemy  countries. 

The  actual  work  of  studying  maps  and  reports,  assembling 
data,  and  writing  the  monograms  was  performed  by  the  men 
whose  names  have  been  given;  while  much  of  the  labor  of 
compiling  statistics,  preparing  maps,  and  similar  duties  fell  to 
the  soldier  assistants.  The  members  of  the  Commission  were 
guided  in  their  work  by  general  specifications  laid  down  by  the 
army  authorities  and  of  course  provided  whatever  information 
these  authorities  requested.  On  the  other  hand,  the  army 
authorities  wisely  refrained  from  setting  arbitrary  limits 
and  iron-clad  standards  to  which  the  reports  should  conform, 
but  left  some  discretion  to  the  experts  engaged  in  the  actual 
assembling  and  preparation  of  data. 

It  would  be  improper  to  record  all  the  uses  made  of  the 
geographical  reports  issued  by  the  Commission  de  Geographic ; 
but  their  practical  value  was  abundantly  attested  by  requests 


1 86  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

for  additional  data  and  demands  for  new  editions.  It  needs 
no  special  insight  to  understand  that  a  complete  description  of 
the  railway  system  of  a  country  might  enable  an  intelligence 
officer  to  interpret  isolated  reports  from  spies  in  that  country 
regarding  troop  trains  observed  by  them  at  different  points,  and 
thus  to  construct  an  accurate  picture  of  enemy  troop  move- 
ments then  taking  place.  The  value  to  airplane  bombing 
squadrons  of  geographic  descriptions  of  the  vital  economic 
points  in  enemy  territory,  is  manifest.  The  reader  may  him- 
self imagine  many  other  advantages  which  a  full  geo- 
graphic knowledge  of  enemy  territory  would  give  to  army 
commanders. 

But  the  preparation  of  geographic  monographs  by  no  means 
measures  the  full  service  which  the  Commission  de  Geographic 
rendered  during  the  war.  High  officers  of  the  army  appealed 
to  it  for  geographical  information  on  a  variety  of  problems. 
Prior  to  the  Aisne  offensive  they  asked  the  Commission  for 
detailed  data  regarding  the  character  of  the  river  and  its  val- 
ley floor,  the  nature  of  the  soil,  number  of  bridges,  possible 
locations  for  new  bridges  and  the  nature  of  the  river  banks 
at  such  localities.  They  also  required  a  special  report  on  the 
quarries  occupied  by  the  Germans,  their  depth,  best  ways  of 
entering  them,  and  particularly  which  ones  of  the  underground 
quarries  were  provided  with  a  surface  covering  of  a  thickness 
and  quality  which  would  enable  heavy  artillery  to  crush  in 
the  roofs  by  bombardment.  On  another  occasion  they  asked 
for  a  report  on  the  Roumanian  and  Russian  fronts  as  regards 
conditions  of  marshes,  rivers,  soil,  and  roads,  in  the  spring  of 
the  year,  in  order  that  the  high  command  might  determine  the 
advisability  of  a  great  spring  offensive.  In  these  and  many 
other  ways  the  Commission  de  Geographic  of  the  Service  Geo- 
graphique  contributed  valuable  aid  to  the  prosecution  of  the 
war. 

If  it  be  true  that  an  army  fights  on  its  maps,  it  is  also  true 
that  during  the  latter  part  of  the  war  the  Allies  fought  on 
geographic  models.  The  section  of  the  Service  Geographique 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOGRAPHY  187 

charged  with  the  task  of  supplying  the  armies  with  large-scale 
relief  models  of  the  whole  front  was  in  itself  an  impressive 
organization.  A  visitor  whose  credentials  admitted  him  to 
the  upper  floor  of  the  Invalides  found  that  a  portion  of  the  gal- 
leries had  been  transformed  into  a  great  laboratory  where 
highly  skilled  men  and  women  were  busily  engaged  in  making 
plaster  reliefs  with  a  speed  and  with  a  degree  of  precision  never 
dreamed  of  by  the  ordinary  maker  of  geographic  models. 
Speed  was  essential,  for  military  operations  of  the  highest  im- 
portance might  be  awaiting  the  completion  of  the  models  in 
order  that  every  detail  of  the  battle  area  could  be  studied  on 
a  miniature  reproduction  of  the  original  surface.  Accuracy 
was  no  less  essential,  for  the  slopes  of  the  land  as  shown  on  the 
models  were  often  used  to  determine  the  trajectories  of  gun- 
fire, and  hence  the  kind  of  artillery  necessary  to  reach  certain 
concealed  areas  behind  hills  or  mountains;  and  also  to  deter- 
mine quickly  and  accurately  what  areas  of  enemy  territory  were 
invisible  from  any  observation  post  within  the  Allied  lines,  and 
where  accordingly  the  Germans  most  probably  would  have 
depots  of  importance.  The  skill  developed  by  the  staff  of 
women  trained  to  superimpose  on  the  completed  model  a  tissue 
paper  map  of  the  same  scale  showing  every  detail  of  military 
value,  and  to  stretch  and  warp  this  paper  till  it  adhered  to  the 
hills  and  valleys  of  the  plaster  relief  without  displacing  stream 
lines  from  the  valley  bottoms  or  hill  crests  from  the  high  points 
of  the  model,  was  most  amazing.  So  perfect  was  the  machin- 
ery of  this  organization  and  so  skilled  were  its  employees, 
that  if  an  army  commander  telegraphed  one  morning  that  he 
required  a  relief  model  of  part  of  his  battle  front  based  on 
a  map  covering,  let  us  say,  30  to  40  square  miles  on  a  scale  of 
3  inches  to  the  mile,  the  completed  model  could  be  shipped 
to  him  the  evening  of  the  next  day,  and  forty  or  more  addi- 
tional copies  by  the  following  evening.  If  the  terrain  was  un- 
usually rough  an  additional  day  would  be  required  for  the  first 
model.  Those  accustomed  to  regard  the  construction  of  such 
models  as  a  matter  of  weeks,  will  fully  appreciate  what  this 


i88  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

high  development  of  the  art  of  model  making  must  have  meant 
to  the  Allied  armies. 

One  who  watched  the  large  number  of  models  under  con- 
struction at  the  Invalides,  or  saw  them  piled  high  in'  their 
corrugated  pasteboard  box  containers  in  the  store  rooms,  or 
observed  the  many  camions  loaded  with  the  large  wooden  cases 
in  which  they  were  shipped  to  the  front,  gained  an  impressive 
idea  of  the  magnitude  of  this  geographic  contribution  to  the 
war.  The  impression  was  greatly  heightened  when  he  learned 
that  the  Invalides  contained  only  one  of  the  several  establish- 
ments in  Paris  devoted  to  this  important  work,  and  that  at 
various  headquarters  along  the  front  were  still  other  labora- 
tories busy  at  the  task  of  making  relief  models. 

While  Paris  was  indeed  the  center  of  the  geographic  work 
of  the  French  Armies,  the  visitor  to  army  headquarters  at  the 
front  also  received  a  vivid  conception  of  the  role  played  by 
certain  phases  of  geography  in  the  military  operations.  It  was, 
for  example,  a  surprise  to  note  the  excellence  of  the  equipment 
for  drawing,  engraving,  and  printing  maps  which  one  found 
only  a  few  miles  back  of  the  fighting  zone;  and  a  matter  of 
the  greatest  interest  to  observe  the  methods  by  which  airplane 
observations  and  photographs,  reports  of  scouts  and  raiding 
parties,  data  captured  from  prisoners  and  secured  by  spies, 
were  systematically  being  incorporated  in  new  maps  of  con- 
stantly increasing  accuracy  and  detail.  It  was  a  surprise,  too, 
to  see  the  size  and  equipment  of  the  relief  model  laboratories 
at  certain  headquarters,  and  to  learn  the  practical  military  uses 
to  which  these  representations  of  the  earth's  surface  were  put. 
And  it  Was  during  the  terrific  artillery  duel  which  accompanied 
the  second  battle  of  the  Marne  that  a  French  major  explained 
to  me  a  new  geographical  instrument  he  was  perfecting  to 
improve  the  method  of  making  contour  maps  of  enemy  terri- 
tory from  airplane  observations.  In  the  study  of  air  currents 
and  in  weather  forecasting  the  French  meteorological  service 
was  likewise  active  along  the  entire  battle  front. 

The  French  officer  devotes  a  part  of  his  training  period  to 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOGRAPHY  189 

the  study  of  military  geography,  and  while  the  subject  does 
not  appear  to  be  adequately  treated,  I  found  among  French 
officers  in  general  a  lively  respect  for  geographical  science  and 
for  its  value  as  a  military  weapon.  General  de  Castelnau, 
whose  genius  saved  eastern  France  at  a  critical  moment  in 
the  early  days  of  the  war,  manifested  a  profound  knowledge  of 
the  topographic  details  of  the  cuestas  and  lowlands  of  the 
Nancy  region  when  he  explained  with  the  aid  of  maps  how  he 
reversed  the  traditional  theory  of  French  military  writers  that 
Nancy  could  not  effectively  be  defended,  and  demonstrated 
that  the  peculiar  topography  of  that  area  made  it  possible  for 
an  inferior  number  of  French  troops  to  defeat  the  attacks  of 
superior  enemy  forces.  General  Hirshauer,  with  the  relief 
models  of  the  Verdun  district  before  him,  gave  me  a  clear  and 
accurate  account  of  the  river  captures  in  the  Meuse  basin 
which  caused  the  peculiar  features  of  the  valley  in  which  the 
fortress  city  is  located.  General  Le  Rond,  of  General  Foch's 
staff,  was  selected  as  the  French  expert  on  military  and  fron- 
tier geography  at  the  Peace  Conference. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  trace  in  detail  the  uses  made  of 
geography  in  all  the  Allied  armies.  In  Italy  the  map-making 
equipment  was  of  a  high  order,  and  both  in  the  Military 
Geographical  Institute  at  Florence,  under  the  direction  of  Gen- 
eral Gliamas,  and  at  the  General  Army  Headquarters  near 
Padua,  beautiful  cartographic  work  on  a  great  scale  was  car- 
ried on.  The  Italian  photographic  section  far  excelled  the 
best  work  of  the  other  Allied  armies  in  the  scope  and  excel- 
lence of  its  product.  Italian  soldiers  were  sent  to  the  Paris 
laboratories  to  learn  of  the  French  their  methods  of  making 
relief  models,  and  later  constructed  a  complete  series  of  large- 
scale  models  for  all  northern  Italy  and  the  east  Adriatic  Coast. 
Colonel  de  Ambrosis  of  the  Italian  General  Staff,  a  professor 
in  the  Military  Geographical  Institute  at  Florence  where  he 
had,  before  the  war,  begun  the  publication  of  reports  on  the 
physiographic  provinces  of  Italy  especially  adapted  to  the 
needs  of  army  officers,  accompanied  me  along  the  Italian  front 


190  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

and  discussed  at  length  the  geographical  problems  confronting 
Italy's  armies,  and  the  geographical  problems  which  would  con- 
front her  statesmen  when  the  time  should  come  to  delimit  Italy's 
new  frontiers.  As  an  instructor  of  army  officers  Colonel  De 
Ambrosis  gives  courses  on  geology  and  geography,  and  re- 
quires field  excursions  in  order  to  insure  a  practical  under- 
standing of  the  value  of  these  subjects  to  the  military  man. 

On  the  Balkan  front,  where  facilities  were  certainly  very 
inferior  as  compared  with  those  to  be  found  in  England, 
France,  and  Italy,  one  nevertheless  found  that  map-making 
establishments,  relief  model  laboratories,  and  other  geograph- 
ical equipment  were  among  the  things  considered  indispensable. 
The  lack  of  good  maps  for  the  Balkans  imposed  upon  the  en- 
gineers, geographers  and  cartographers  an  unusually  heavy 
burden,  particularly  as  the  enemy's  territory  had  to  be  mapped 
in  large  part  by  means  of  airplane  observations. 

The  fact  that  America  entered  the  war  very  late,  and  de- 
pended upon  her  allies,  particularly  France,  for  much  of  her 
needed  geographical  material,  makes  impossible  any  compari- 
son between  geographical  work  in  the  American  and  Allied 
armies.  We  may,  however,  note  some  of  the  ways  in  which 
geographical  science  contributed  to  America's  share  in  the  war. 
Our  leading  geographer,  William  Morris  Davis,  prepared  for 
the  use  of  our  army  officers,  with  the  approval  of  the  Geography 
Committee  of  the  National  Research  Council,  a  "  Handbook 
of  Northern  France  "  which  had  a  wide  distribution,  and  later 
undertook  a  similar  work  on  Western  Germany.  The  Division 
of  Geology  and  Geography  of  the  Council  issued  for  army  use 
a  special  edition  of  that  part  of  the  present  writer's 
11  Topography  and  Strategy  in  the  War "  which  dealt  with 
the  western  front. 

To  assist  in  the  work  of  the  Student  Army  Training  Corps, 
the  Division  of  Geology  and  Geography  prepared  and  issued 
under  the  editorship  of  Herbert  E.  Gregory,  a  "  Textbook  on 
Military  Geology  and  Topography,"  an  "  Introductory  Meteor- 
ology," and  a  "  Syllabus  on  the  Geography  of  Europe."  The 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOGRAPHY  191 

Division  was  also  instrumental  in  stimulating  the  preparation 
and  publication  of  several  pamphlets  describing  the  physical 
features  of  the  environment  of  some  of  the  army  training 
camps.  These  reports,  generally  issued  by  the  State  Geological 
Survey,  emphasized  the  topographic  features  of  military  sig- 
nificance, the  physiography  and  its  influence  on  the  economic 
development  of  the  region  described. 

The  Division  was  also  active  in  collecting  important  in- 
formation on  a  variety  of  subjects  of  military  importance 
which  it  supplied  to  the  interested  Government  Departments. 
Most  of  the  information  was  of  a  geological  nature,  but  in  its 
treatment  it  was  somewhat  geographical. 

American  geographers  were  called  upon  to  serve  the  Gov- 
ernment in  the  War  Trade  Board  and  other  organizations,  and 
a  number  were  commissioned  as  officers  in  the  army,  some  for 
service  at  Washington  and  others  for  service  abroad.  Two 
were  assigned  by  the  War  Department  to  make  detailed  geo- 
graphical studies  along  the  western  and  Italian  fronts,  and  one 
of  these  was  also  sent  to  the  Balkans  on  a  similar  mission. 
American  meteorologists  were  commissioned  as  officers  and 
sent  to  France  to  contribute  their  aid  to  our  military  opera- 
tions. The  "  Inquiry  "  organized  during  the  war  under  the 
direction  of  Colonel  House,  and  directed  by  the  President  to 
make  preparations  for  the  coming  Peace  Conference,  had  its 
headquarters  in  the  building  of  the  American  Geographical 
Society  at  New  York,  employed  the  map  collections  and  map 
making  facilities  of  the  Society  in  its  work,  had  the  Director 
of  the  Society,  Dr.  Bowman,  as  its  executive  secretary,  and 
enrolled  other  geographers  on  its  staff  of  experts.  The  first 
troops  to  leave  for  Europe  took  with  them  collections  of  de- 
tailed maps  provided  by  this  same  Society.  These  are  but 
examples  of  the  many  ways  in  which  geography  came  to  the 
aid  of  the  American  Government  in  solving  problems  arising 
from  the  war. 

As  an  aid  in  preparing  for  some  of  the  problems  of  the 
Peace  Conference  the  **  Inquiry  "  undertook  the  preparation  of 


192  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

large  block  diagrams  of  certain  territories  which  it  was  ex- 
pected would  be  the  subject  of  negotiation  at  the  close  of 
hostilities.  These  block  diagrams  are  with  little  doubt  the 
most  detailed  and  exact  ever  prepared  for  any  purpose.  They 
cover  the  region  of  northeastern  France  including  Alsace-Lor- 
raine, the  Trentino,  the  Isonzo-Istria  area  involved  in  the 
Adriatic  dispute,  Albania,  and  a  large  part  of  the  Balkan 
peninsula.  Copies  were  distributed  to  commanders  in  our  own 
and  the  Allied  armies,  and  served  a  useful  purpose  in  enabling 
officers  to  get  a  clear  mental  picture  of  the  salient  features  of 
the  terrain  on  which  they  were  operating.  Inspired  by  these 
diagrams,  Dr.  Kirk  Bryan,  a  geologist  serving  in  the  American 
Expeditionary  Force,  prepared  a  more  detailed  block  diagram 
of  the  Argonne  Forest  region,  which  was  distributed  to  of- 
ficers with  an  annexed  explanatory  description,  as  part  of  one 
of  the  orders  issued  during  the  Argonne  campaign.  Thus  the 
geographical  diagrams  designed  especially  to  elucidate  prob- 
lems of  the  peace  were  found  to  have  a  practical  value  in 
prosecuting  the  war. 

The  Peace  Conference  was  one  of  the  necessary  conse- 
quences of  the  war;  and  no  account  of  the  role  of  geography 
in  the  world  conflict  would  be  complete  which  did  not  place 
upon  record  the  immense  service  rendered  by  geography  in 
the  task  of  remaking  the  map  of  the  world.  Every  delega- 
tion to  the  conference  included  geographical  experts,  and 
there  gathered  about  the  green  table  in  different  commissions 
and  sub-commissions  De  Martonne  of  France,  Ogilvie  of  Eng- 
land, Cvijic  of  Serbia,  Romer  of  Poland,  Bowman,  Jefferson 
and  Johnson  of  America,  and  others  from  other  countries.  On 
certain  of  the  International  Territorial  Commissions  constituted 
by  the  Great  Powers  to  draw  the  new  frontiers  of  Europe,  the 
Secretary  of  State  named  American  geographers  to  represent 
the  United  States  and  to  sit  with  diplomats  of  the  stamp  of 
Tardieu,  Jules  Cambon,  and  Sir  Eyre  Crowe.  President  Wil- 
son and  the  Commissioners  frequently  asked  and  acted  upon 
geographical  advice  in  regard  to  the  more  difficult  territorial 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOGRAPHY  193 

problems  of  the  peace  settlement;  and  during  certain  periods 
when  these  problems  were  actively  under  discussion,  one  of  the 
geographers  would  have  daily  morning  conferences  with  the 
Commissioners  to  discuss  matters  which  would  be  debated  in 
the  Supreme  Council  in  the  afternoon.  At  meetings  of  the 
Supreme  Council,  of  the  Council  of  Ministers,  and  of  those 
Territorial  commissions  which  did  not  already  contain  an 
American  geographer  on  their  membership,  one  of  our  geo- 
graphers was  usually  present  as  consulting  expert  when  ter- 
ritorial questions  were  on  the  agenda. 

The  American  delegation  included  in  its  organization  a 
Division  of  Geography  charged  with  the  highly  important 
task  of  supplying  to  the  President  and  Commissioners  not 
only  copies  of  published  maps  of  every  variety  needed  in  their 
deliberations,  but  in  addition  a  never-ending  series  of  new  maps 
to  illustrate  special  problems  and  the  recommendations  of  the 
staff  of  experts ;  and  a  Division  of  Boundary  Geography  which 
scrutinized  proposed  new  frontiers  to  determine  whether  they 
were  in  harmony  with  the  geographical  conditions  in  the  regions 
affected,  and  to  suggest  such  changes  as  topographic  features, 
economic  relations,  trade  routes,  lines  of  communication,  and 
other  geographic  elements  might  render  advisable.  Before  a 
boundary  delimitation  was  written  into  a  Treaty,  its  every 
detail  was  passed  upon  by  a  geographical  sub-commission. 
There  is  therefore  some  reason  for  hoping  that  the  execution 
of  the  new  treaties  will  not  be  hampered  by  the  discovery  of 
such  geographical  blunders  as  diplomats  have  frequently  per- 
petrated in  past  peace  conferences. 

The  map-making  establishments  set  up  at  Paris  by  certain  of 
the  delegations  bore  witness  to  the  importance  attributed  to 
the  cartographic  work  of  the  Conference.  The  facilities  of 
the  Service  Geographique  were  already  at  hand.  In  one  end 
of  the  Bois  de  Boulogne  the  British  erected  at  great  expense  a 
first-class  establishment  for  the  drafting  and  engraving  of 
maps  of  various  types,  and  among  other  things  handled  part 
of  the  work  of  printing  the  large-scale  and  small-scale  maps 


194  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

showing  detailed  locations  of  tentative  boundaries  which 
formed  the  basis  of  discussion  in  the  Supreme  Council.  Less 
pretentious  but  very  effective  was  the  equipment  for  repro- 
ducing by  photostat  and  other  processes  the  large  quantity  of 
special  maps  demanded  by  the  American  delegation.  In  like 
manner  other  delegations  had  the  cartographic  equipment  best 
adapted  to  their  special  needs.  Any  style  of  map  needed  at 
the  conference  could  be  produced  on  short  notice,  if  not  by 
one  delegation,  then  by  another.  In  order  that  the  American 
delegation  might  have  at  its  disposal  the  latest  geographical 
material  produced  in  neutral  and  enemy  countries,  Major  Law- 
rence Martin  was  sent  on  a  special  mission  to  various  parts  of 
central  Europe,  and  through  his  efforts  new  maps  were  con- 
stantly being  added  to  the  collections  in  the  Hotel  Crillon. 

The  importance  of  relief  models  in  military  operations  has 
already  been  emphasized.  Believing  that  such  models  would 
prove  of  inestimable  value  in  the  peace  negotiations,  the  pres- 
ent writer  submitted,  before  the  close  of  the  war,  a  project  for 
the  manufacture  of  large-scale  relief  models  of  every  territory 
likely  to  be  in  dispute  at  the  Conference.  Details  of  the  plan 
were  worked  out  in  collaboration  with  the  French  geographer, 
De  Martonne,  and  submitted  to  General  Bourgeois  of  the  Serv- 
ice Geographique,  who  gave  his  hearty  approval  and  support. 
The  French  Government  adopted  the  project,  and  work  began 
at  once  with  American  and  Italian  cooperation.  Before  the 
tremendous  task  could  be  completed  hostilities  ceased,  but  the 
work  continued  during  the  sessions  of  the  Conference.  Full 
series  were  in  time  available  for  the  west  bank  of  the  Rhine, 
the  Saar  Basin,  the  Belgian  frontier,  the  northern  Italian 
frontier  region,  the  Julian  Alps  and  Istria,  and  the  east  Adriatic 
coast ;  and  large  areas  of  Albania,  Bohemia,  and  certain  other 
districts  were  completed  in  time  to  be  of  real  service.  In  the 
large  rooms  set  apart  for  maps  and  models  at  the  Hotel  Cril- 
lon the  American  Commissioners  studied  frontier  questions  on 
facsimile  reproductions  of  the  real  topography  of  disputed  ter- 
ritories. Groups  of  the  models  were  occasionally  transferred 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOGRAPHY  195 

to  the  Quai  d'Orsay  when  a  difficult  question  needed  elucidation 
in  commission.  Two  sets  covering  critical  points  in  the  Adri- 
atic controversy  were  set  up  in  the  study  of  the  President's 
mansion  in  Paris,  in  order  that  he  might  make  constant  use  of 
them  in  his  negotiations  over  that  thorny  question.  In  these 
and  other  ways  the  geographic  models  served  the  statesmen  of 
the  world  on  many  occasions. 

These  pages  make  no  pretense  at  cataloguing  all  the  uses  of 
geography  in  the  peace  negotiations;  rather  they  aim  merely 
to  give  the  reader  some  conception  of  the  scope  and  variety 
of  that  usefulness.  Certainly  no  other  peace  conference  in 
the  world's  history  ever  witnessed  such  an  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  negotiators  to  make  their  territorial  decisions  geo- 
graphically sound.  And  while  political  considerations  some- 
times overthrew  both  science  and  common  sense,  when  the  true 
inside  story  of  the  conference  is  written  it  will  be  found  that 
the  territorial  experts  had  much  to  say  about  the  location 
of  Europe's  new  boundaries;  and  that  in  making  peace,  as 
in  making  war,  the  science  of  geography  played  a  most  im- 
portant role. 


N 


XII 

CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY 
DOUGLAS  W.  JOHNSON 

TT  was  at  dinner  at  the  mess  of  General  X.  During  a 
•*•  pause  in  the  lively  conversation  carried  on  by  the  members 
of  his  staff,  I  casually  asked  the  General  himself  a  question 
which  I  had  propounded  many  times  before  under  similar 
circumstances : 

"  Have  you  found  any  practical  use  for  geological  informa- 
tion or  assistance  in  the  course  of  your  operations?" 

On  previous  occasions  the  answers  had  varied  from  an  em- 
phatic "  yes,"  with  concrete  illustrations  of  the  practical  uses 
made  of  the  science  in  solving  military  problems,  to  an  equally 
emphatic  "  no,"  with  reasons  why  geology  could  not  be  useful 
in  warfare.  One  general  naively  explained  that  trenches  and 
dugouts  reached  but  a  moderate  depth  below  the  surface,  and 
that  as  geology  only  dealt  with  deep-seated  rocks  it  could  of 
course  not  come  into  play  in  military  operations. 

This  evening  my  host  replied  by  telling  the  following  story : 

"  We  had  to  establish  a  big  aviation  camp  at  Y,  and  I  sent 
an  officer  who  is  a  trained  geologist  to  report  on  the  matter  of 
water  supply.  After  a  careful  examination  he  reported  that 
for  the  number  of  men  to  be  assigned  to  that  camp,  so  many 
wells  must  be  dug  to  assure  adequate  quantities  of  water 
throughout  the  entire  year.  This  report  was  sent  to  the  com- 
manding officer  of  the  camp  for  his  information  and  appro- 
priate action.  It  soon  came  back  with  the  endorsement: 
'  What  is  the  use  of  digging  wells  in  a  country  which  is  al- 
ready saturated  with  water  ?  ' 

196 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY  197 

"  The  report  was  filed  away.  Summer  came,  the  surface 
water  disappeared,  springs  gradually  diminished  in  volume, 
and  the  small  number  of  previously  existing  wells  could  not 
begin  to  supply  the  demands  made  upon  them.  Then  we  got 
a  distress  call  from  the  commanding  officer :  *  For  Heaven's 
sake  come  dig  us  some  wells.  We  have  no  water.'  Now  my 
geological  officer  got  his  revenge.  He  sent  a  reply  which  read 
something  like  this: 

" '  Referring  to  your  request  of  even  date  that  some  wells 
be  sunk  in  your  camp,  your  attention  is  respectfully  called  to 

my  report  of  February ,  specifying  the  number  of  wells 

you  would  need,  and  to  your  endorsement  of  said  report  to  the 
effect  that  there  was  no  use  in  digging  wells  in  a  country  al- 
ready saturated  with  water.  I  regret  to  report  that  all  our 
drilling  parties  are  at  present  engaged  on  pressing  work  duly 
authorized;  but  as  soon  as  a  party  is  free,  it  will  be  sent  im- 
mediately to  your  assistance.' 

"  Since  that  day,"  concluded  the  General,  "  no  one  in  this 
army  thinks  of  doing  anything  in  a  new  region  without  first 
consulting  our  geologist." 

Not  in  all  armies  did  the  geologist  enjoy  such  high  confi- 
dence. A  survey  of  the  army  fronts,  even  in  the  last  days  of 
the  war,  would  have  shown  that  in  some  localities  and  in  some 
problems  geological  science  was  actively  contributing  to  the 
prosecution  of  military  operations;  while  in  others  the  geolo- 
gist was  conspicuous  by  his  absence,  and  the  most  heard  about 
him  was  a  number  of  complaints  from  engineers  and  officers 
that  their  work  was  seriously  hampered  because  of  the  lack  of 
geological  information  and  assistance.  Nevertheless,  the  sum 
total  of  the  contributions  made  by  geology  toward  winning  the 
war  is  a  creditable  record,  and  the  reader  may  be  interested 
in  some  examples  of  the  many  ways  in  which  a  knowledge  of 
the  earth's  crust  was  made  to  increase  the  effectiveness  of  the 
military  campaigns. 

In  England  one  naturally  turned  first  to  the  headquarters 
of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Great  Britain,  in  London,  to  learn 


198  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

whether  the  Government's  official  geologists  had  been  called 
upon  to  contribute  their  special  knowledge  to  the  solution  of 
military  problems.  Inquiry  developed  the  fact  that  a  great 
range  of  geological  questions  had  been  submitted  by  the  mili- 
tary authorities,  and  that  the  members  of  the  Survey,  both  in 
the  office  and  at  the  front,  were  busy  finding  the  necessary 
answers.  When  German  "  pill-boxes "  were  captured,  the 
Survey  was  asked  to  determine  the  source  of  the  gravel  used 
in  the  concrete  with  which  they  were  constructed,  for  thereon 
hung  an  important  question  as  to  how  effectively  a  certain 
country  was  preserving  its  neutrality.  The  geologist  was  able 
to  identify,  in  the  concrete,  material  which  could  have  come 
only  from  the  Rhine  Valley  by  canals  across  neutral  territory, 
and  thus  to  refute  the  contention  that  the  gravel  was  of  Belgium 
origin.  In  the  same  way  the  geologist  was  asked  to  discover 
the  origin  of  certain  cements  used  by  the  Germans.  When 
between  3000  and  4000  soldiers  had  been  rendered  unfit  for 
service  by  septic  sores  which  developed  on  the  arms  of  men 
tunneling  through  a  particular  geological  formation,  the  Survey 
geologists  were  called  upon  to  ascertain  the  cause;  and  they 
found  that  clay  in  the  formation  acted  like  Fuller's  earth  in 
removing  the  natural  oils  from  the  skin,  with  the  result  that 
the  skin  dried  and  cracked  abnormally,  rendering  infection 
easy  in  the  unclean  life  of  the  trenches.  The  low  plain  of 
Flanders  is  lacking  in  material  suitable  for  road-making,  so 
the  military  authorities  turned  to  the  Survey  for  information 
as  to  the  nearest  supplies  of  stone  which,  when  crushed,  would 
make  good  road  metal.  To  detect  and  forestall  German  tun- 
neling operations,  some  one  conceived  the  idea  of  using  seis- 
mographs to  locate  the  origin  of  distant  underground  blast- 
ing, and  the  testing  of  this  idea  was  turned  over  to  the  Survey 
authorities  as  the  ones  most  familiar  with  the  use  of  earth- 
quake recording  instruments. 

The  medical  deportment  of  the  army  required  information 
as  to  the  geological  formations  likely  to  yield  good  water  sup- 
ply in  large  quantities,  not  only  in  France  and  Belgium,  but 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY  199 

also  in  half  a  hundred  or  more  places  in  Great  Britain  where 
large  bodies  of  men  were  quartered  in  training  camps  and  hos- 
pitals. The  army  engineers  wanted  to  know  the  value  of 
certain  sands  for  use  in  concrete,  why  particular  formations 
squeezed  out  into  the  trenches  and  dugouts,  about  the  use  of 
sandscreens  in  wells,  what  was  the  permanent  level  of  under- 
ground water  in  many  localities,  and  a  long  list  of  additional 
things  equally  varied.  War  trade  organizations  wanted  in- 
formation on  mineral  resources  in  many  parts  of  the  world. 
The  navy  desired  'help  in  testing  various  minerals  needed  for 
the  manufacture  of  instruments  used  in  important  submarine 
devices,  in  locating  coal  supplies  in  distant  ports  of  the  world, 
and  in  finding  suitable  water  supplies  for  a  large  number  of 
naval  stations.  The  ministry  of  munitions  asked  about  caves 
for  storing  high  explosives,  and  the  sources  and  quality  of 
minerals  used  in  the  manufacture  of  such  explosives.  Even 
the  air  service  had  its  geological  problems  to  bring  to  the 
Survey  officials.  All  these  needs,  and  many  more  which  lack 
of  space  forbids  us  to  mention,  were  met  by  the  trained  staff 
of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Great  Britain.  If  this  were  the 
whole  story,  surely  few  would  deny  that  this  scientific  branch 
of  the  British  Government  had  amply  justified  its  existence 
when  the  test  of  war  came. 

But  it  is  not  the  whole  story.  Some  members  of  the  staff 
were  missing  for  a  time,  and  inquiry  would  have  elicited  the 
information  that  three  of  them  were  in  the  Gallipoli  penin- 
sula developing  a  water  supply  for  the  forces  engaged  in  that 
ill-fated  campaign;  while  others  were  here  or  there  on  other 
geological  missions.  At  the  front  you  might  have  found  Bel- 
gian, British  and  French  army  officials  eagerly  consulting  one 
of  the  only  two  known  available  copies  of  a  detailed  geological 
map  of  Belgium  showing  geological  cross-sections  and  well 
records  of  most  vital  importance,  both  copies  having  been  sup- 
plied from  the  files  of  the  British  Survey.  On  asking  about 
the  other  copy,  you  would  have  learned  that  the  Survey  staff 
was  busy  preparing  from  it  as  a  base,  a  new  issue  for  distribu- 


200  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

tion  among  the  many  headquarters  where  it  was  urgently 
needed.  And  had  you  seen  the  great  mine  explosions  at  Mes- 
sines  Ridge,  the  greatest  of  the  entire  war,  and  had  asked  where 
the  vast  tunneling  operations  were,  planned  which  made  pos- 
sible that  remarkable  series  of  nineteen  volcanic  eruptions,  the 
reply  would  have  been,  "  In  the  offices  of  the  Geological  Sur- 
vey in  Jermyn  Street,  London."  From  every  part  of  Britain's 
far-flung  battle  front  were  threads  running  back  to  converge  at 
the  offices  of  the  Geological  Survey. 

The  most  effective  use  of  geology  in  warfare  requires  that 
a  competent  geological  staff  shall  be  located  in  the  active  theater 
of  military  operations,  where  it  can  quickly  examine  and  con- 
stantly supervise  every  geological  problem  which  may  arise. 
Our  British  friends  were  alive  to  this  truth,  and  established 
at  their  General  Headquarters  in  France  a  geologic  corps,  at- 
tached for  convenience  to  the  section  of  the  Chief  Engineers. 
The  Chief  Geologist  was  Lt.  Col.  T.  Edgeworth  David,  the 
distinguished  Australian  scientist  who  accompanied  Shackle- 
ton  on  one  of  the  Antarctic  expeditions;  and  associated  with 
him  were  Captain  W.  B.  R.  King  of  the  British  Geological 
Survey,  and  several  other  assistants.  Their  office  formed  part 
of  the  Headquarters  establishment,  but  their  active  labors  ex- 
tended the  full  length  of  the  British  front  in  France  and  Bel- 
gium. 

It  would  not  be  possible,  even  were  it  desirable,  to  present 
in  a  single  short  chapter  any  adequate  account  of  the  variety 
of  geological  services  rendered  by  Col.  David  and  his  co-work- 
ers. Suffice  it  then  to  mention  the  principal  divisions  into 
which  those  services  may  conveniently  be  grouped,  and  to  give 
some  examples  under  each.  Let  us  turn  first  to  the  all-impor- 
tant matter  of  locating  underground  mines,  tunnels,  and  dug- 
outs. It  was  fortunate  that  the  British  General  Staff  in- 
cluded generals  who  held  the  opinion  that  geological  study  was 
absolutely  essential  to  the  proper  location  of  these  under- 
ground workings,  and  who  were  frank  enough  to  express 
their  regret  that  geologists  had  not  been  employed  from  the 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY  201 

moment  the  opposing  forces  began  "  digging  in."  At  least  two 
such  generals  were  among  Col.  David's  superiors  at  Head- 
quarters, and  the  success  he  was  able  to  achieve  in  the  practical 
application  of  engineering  geology  to  military  projects  was 
no  doubt  partly  due  to  the  breadth  of  vision  of  men  of  this 
stamp.  One  of  these  generals  admitted  that  in  the  beginning 
army  officials  were  as  a  rule  very  skeptical  as  to  the  practical 
importance  of  Col.  David's  geological  theories.  But,  he  added, 
after  several  bad  blunders  due  to  refusal  to  take  geological 
advice,  and  several  striking  demonstrations  of  Col.  David's 
ability  to  predict  accurately  the  conditions  which  would  be  en- 
countered in  depth  by  underground  workings,  they  were  so 
far  convinced  that  before  the  end  of  the  war  no  responsible 
officer  in  the  British  Army  would  consider  the  planning  of  such 
works  without  first  securing  the  opinion  of  a  geological  ex- 
pert. 

The  non-geological  reader  will  have  no  difficulty  in  under- 
standing the  importance  of  geological  aid  in  selecting  locations 
for  excavating  mines,  tunnels  and  dugouts,  if  he  will  remem- 
ber that  some  rocks  are  porous  and  permit  the  ready  passage 
of  water,  whereas  others  are  more  or  less  impervious.  Now 
it  happens  that  along  part  of  the  front  one  rock  formation, 
through  which  comparatively  little  water  circulated,  had 
both  above  and  below  it  layers  carrying  great  quantities  of 
water.  If  the  army  engineers  kept  their  tunnels  or  other 
excavations  well  within  the  non-saturated  bed,  all  went  well. 
But  as  soon  as  they  got  too  high  or  too  low,  water  burst  through 
from  the  adjacent  formations  and  flooded  their  works.  Only 
a  geologist  familiar  with  every  detail  of  each  formation  could 
guide  the  underground  work  so  that  it  would  be  sure  not  to 
end  in  disaster.  At  Messines  Ridge,  where  precisely  these 
rock  conditions  existed,  very  careful  geological  examinations 
were  made  on  the  ground,  in  addition  to  work  done  at  the 
Geological  Survey  office  in  London.  Thus  the  most  exten- 
sive military  mining  operations  in  all  history  were  undertaken 
on  the  basis  of  geological  study.  That  they  were  successful 


202  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

despite  the  dangers  from  waters  both  above  and  below,  is  suf- 
ficient evidence  of  the  excellent  work  done  by  Col.  David  and 
his  staff. 

Practically  all  rocks  below  a  certain  variable  level  known 
as  "  the  groundwater  level,"  contain  water  so  that  tunnels, 
dugouts  or  other  excavations  which  go  below  that  level  will 
be  flooded.  Hence  it  is  necessary  to  know  the  distance  from 
the  surface  of  the  earth  down  to  groundwater  level  all  along  a 
battle  front,  and  an  important  part  of  the  work  of  the  British 
geologists  was  to  prepare  detailed  maps  showing  just  how  deep 
at  any  given  place  excavations  could  safely  be  carried,  or  how 
deep  wells  would  have  to  be  driven  to  get  plenty  of  water.  In 
the  rainy  season  the  groundwater  level  begins  to  rise,  and  as 
the  change  takes  place  slowly  there  is  a  "  lag,"  or  the  rising 
continues  for  a  time  after  the  rains  have  ceased.  An  engineer 
who  drove  a  tunnel  just  above  the  groundwater  level  at  the 
end  of  the  rainy  season  might  well  suppose  that  he  was  quite 
safe,  and  yet  have  the  tunnel  flooded  by  a  further  rise  of  the 
groundwater.  Precisely  this  happened  to  a  number  of  Ger- 
man tunnels.  Thanks  to  the  skilful  work  of  Col.  David  the 
British  were  saved  this  misfortune ;  for  Col.  David  determined 
not  merely  the  groundwater  level  for  a  given  time,  but  the 
variations  of  the  groundwater  level  as  well ;  and  constructed 
curves  showing  just  how  high  the  level  would  be  at  every  time 
of  the  year.  He  then  directed  the  army  engineers  how  to 
locate  their  excavations  so  that  they  would  never  be  flooded; 
and  British  efficiency  once  more  scored  against  the  much 
vaunted  German  efficiency. 

But  it  was  not  merely  in  locating  excavations  that  the  Brit- 
ish geologists  served  their  armies.  They  told  the  engineers 
in  advance  what  kind  of  rocks  they  would  have  to  pass  through 
underground,  and  hence  what  kinds  of  tools  and  how  much 
timbering  they  would  require.  They  kept  a  number  of  drill- 
ing parties  constantly  busy  making  test  borings  to  determine 
with  precision  the  exact  thickness  of  every  rock  formation  at 
those  places  where  the  engineers  planned  underground  work 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY  203 

of  any  kind.  They  gave  to  the  water  supply  officer  of  each 
army  the  geological  advice  he  was  required  to  seek  before  put- 
ting down  any  well,  and  told  him  where,  how  deep,  and  in 
how  great  quantities  he  could  expect  to  find  good  water.  They 
provided  these  same  officers  with  various  water-supply  maps 
and  with  geological  cross-sections  showing  the  conditions  un- 
der which  underground  water  occurred  at  all  points  along  the 
front.  They  told  where  older  rocks  suitable  for  road  metal 
protruded  through  the  later  covering  deposits,  and  where  the 
best  rocks  for  concrete,  cement  and  other  purposes  would  be 
found.  And  since  it  was  important  to  know  what  sources  of 
valuable  rocks  and  minerals  the  enemy  had  at  his  command,  the 
geologist's  knowledge  of  the  rock  formations  and  the  mineral 
deposits  of  enemy  countries  was  placed  at  the  service  of  the 
army  to  provide  this  information. 

Artillery  fire  produces  very  different  effects  on  different 
types  of  soil  and  rock.  One  type  of  shell  may  produce  the 
greater  damage  in  a  clay  formation,  another  in  a  loamy  soil, 
still  another  in  limestone  or  chalk.  The  geologist  was  able  to 
tell  the  artillery  officer  what  kind  of  formation  his  fire  was 
directed  against,  and  thus  to  aid  his  judgment  as  to  the  type 
of  fire  he  should  employ.  When  a  big  attack  is  planned,  it  is 
vitally  important  to  know  just  what  surface  conditions  the 
troops  advancing  into  the  enemy's  area  will  find,  as  plans  for 
the  advance  will  vary  according  to  the  kind  of  obstacles  to  be 
encountered.  It  is  evident  that  the  heavy  barrage  fire  preced- 
ing such  an  attack  must  profoundly  alter  the  surface  of  the 
country  to  be  passed  over,  and  that  the  nature  of  the  alteration 
will  depend  upon  the  kind  of  soil  or  rock  beneath  the  surface. 
The  shell  craters  may  be  large  and  deep  in  some  formations, 
shallow  but  broad  in  others,  in  still  others  imperfectly  devel- 
oped. In  one  formation  water  will  accumulate  in  the  shell 
craters  if  it  rains,  but  not  otherwise ;  in  another  water  will  in 
any  case  be  admitted  because  the  bottoms  of  the  craters  pene- 
trate a  water-bearing  bed;  in  yet  another  no  water  will  stand 
in  the  craters  no  matter  what  the  weather  may  be.  It  should 


204  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

therefore  be  evident  that  maps  showing  the  kinds  of  surface 
troops  will  have  to  cross  following  heavy  barrage  fire  must 
be  of  great  value  to  an  army  commander.  The  British  geolo- 
gists prepared  maps  of  this  kind  for  much  of  Belgium  and 
northern  France. 

Tanks  can  advance  over  certain  kinds  of  soil,  but  their  great 
weight  causes  them  to  sink  deep  and  become  mired  in  others. 
So  it  became  important  to  know  in  advance  what  were  the  soil 
conditions  behind  the  enemy's  lines.  "  Tank  maps "  were 
therefore  produced  by  the  geologist,  showing  where  tanks  could, 
and  where  they  could  not  go. 

Before  retreating  an  enemy  aims  to  destroy  all  the  wells 
and  springs  in  the  country,  in  order  that  the  pursuer  may  be 
as  seriously  handicapped  as  possible.  For  this  reason  the 
army  commanders  depended  upon  the  geologists  to  prepare 
maps  showing  underground  water  supplies  of  enemy  territory 
into  which  it  was  proposed  to  advance.  These  could  be  based 
in  part  upon  published  data  available  in  the  geological  libraries 
of  Allied  countries,  and  in  part  upon  long  experience  with 
water-bearing  beds  within  the  Allied  lines  which  were  known  to 
extend  under  enemy  territory.  It  was  found  possible  from 
published  maps  of  enemy  areas  to  construct  geological  cross- 
sections  of  the  country  behind  his  lines,  locate  on  these  sections 
the  water-bearing  horizons,  and  then  by  making  allowance  for 
the  surface  topography,  to  prepare  in  advance  maps  which 
indicated  with  reasonable  accuracy  just  how  deep  the  advanc- 
ing armies  must  sink  wells  in  any  given  locality  in  order  to  get 
the  fresh  water  supplies  they  would  require. 

Enough  has  been  said  to  give  the  reader  some  impression  of 
the  wide  range  of  service  performed  by  the  geologists  attached 
to  the  British  Expeditionary  Force  in  France  and  Belgium. 
I  think  it  is  fair  to  say  that  in  no  other  Allied  army  was 
geological  science  so  largely  and  so  successfully  employed. 
If  we  turn  to  the  record  of  the  French  Army,  it  does  not  ap- 
pear that  the  services  of  their  geologists  were  utilized  to  any 
great  extent,  although  a  limited  amount  of  geological  work 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY  205 

was  done  along  the  French  front.  One  series  of  maps  con- 
taining "  General  Information "  carried  overprints  in  colors 
showing  areas  of  resistant  rock,  sand  soil,  regions  marshy  in 
wet  seasons,  regions  permanently  marshy,  and  other  similar 
data  as  to  surface  conditions.  But  these  maps  were  imperfect, 
and  were  not  highly  regarded  by  French  geologists. 

At  certain  of  the  French  Army  Headquarters  in  the  field 
there  were  prepared  and  published  real  geological  maps  espe- 
cially adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  army.  Some  of  these  maps 
were  made  by  trained  geologists  who  happened  to  be  in  some 
military  service  at  the  front,  and  secured  appointment  to  do 
a  little  geological  work.  Such  maps  were  of  course  well  made. 
Others  were  prepared  by  men  with  little  or  no  geological  train- 
ing, and  quite  naturally  were  full  of  errors.  Those  of  the  bet- 
ter grade,  for  example  one  of  the  region  about  Rheims,  were 
well  printed  in  a  variety  of  colors,  and  were  based  on  the'  stand- 
ard geologic  map  of  France.  The  descriptions  of  the  forma- 
tions were  in  terms  of  military  importance,  and  the  color 
scheme  was  altered  so  as  best  to  portray  data  of  this  type  in  the 
special  locality  concerned.  Whether  the  soil  was  thin  and 
the  rock  resistant,  or  the  soil  deep  and  the  rock  decomposed; 
whether  the  terrain  was  sandy,  clayey,  or  marshy;  whether  it 
was  or  was  not  adapted  to  trenches,  dugouts,  and  other  ex- 
cavations; and  whether  such  structures  would  remain  long  in 
good  condition  or  require  constant  repairs,  were  among  the 
items  emphasized.  Two  separate  columns  were  employed  to 
give  the  special  characteristics  of  each  formation,  the  one  in 
wet  seasons,  the  other  in  dry  seasons.  A  series  of  such  maps 
for  the  whole  front  would  have  been  of  inestimable  value  to 
the  French  armies. 

Excellent  use  was  indeed  made  of  the  standard  French 
geologic  sheets  by  some  of  the  engineering  officers,  who  kept  files 
of  these  sheets  at  the  front  for  constant  reference.  One  of 
these  officers  explained  in  detail  how  helpful  the  maps  had  been 
in  guiding  him  to  horizons  best  adapted  for  tunneling,  and 
other  underground  works,  and  to  formations  valuable  for  road 


206  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

metal  and  materials  for  concrete.  Although  he  had  no  special 
geologic  knowledge  himself,  he  fully  appreciated  the  impor- 
tance of  the  maps.  At  the  same  time  he  added  that  the  serv- 
ices of  a  geologist  would  have  been  most  valuable  to  him. 
The  maps  available  were  very  generalized,  the  locations  of 
contacts  were  not  sufficiently  accurate  for  his  needs,  and  the 
formations  were  not  sufficiently  subdivided.  He  needed  for 
the  sector  covered  by  his  defense  engineering  works  a  larger 
scale  geologic  map  which  would  show  accurately  the  distribu- 
tion of  each  formation  important  from  the  engineering  stand- 
point. Because  of  the  lack  of  such  a  map  he  had  been  com- 
pelled to  do  a  large  amount  of  exploratory  work,  uncovering 
outcrops  and  studying  the  formations  himself  until  he  was 
sure  he  had  located  the  proper  horizon  for  a  given  purpose. 
All  this  had  cost  valuable  time,  and  he  felt  that  it  was  un- 
fortunate to  have  French  geologists  mobilized  for  routine  mili- 
tary occupations  when  their  special  abilities  might  have  been 
utilized  to  save  time  and  energy  in  important  military  under- 
takings. 

Many  concrete  examples  could  be  cited  of  the  unfortunate 
consequences  resulting  from  failure  to  seek  geological  ad- 
vice. For  sake  of  illustration  I  select  one  from  the  region  of 
Verdun.  At  the  Cote  du  Poivre  a  position  was  being  organ- 
ized on  the  back  slope  of  the  ridge.  The  officer  in  command 
ordered  the  construction  of  dugouts  for  protection  from  ar- 
tillery fire  at  certain  points,  basing  the  selection  of  these  points 
purely  on  tactical  grounds  and  without  regard  to  the  geological 
structure  of  the  district.  After  much  loss  of  valuable  time  it 
was  found  quite  impossible  to  make  dugouts  suitable  for  hu- 
man occupation  in  the  places  selected,  because  of  the  great 
volumes  of  water  encountered.  The  points  chosen  were  lo- 
cated on  a  water-bearing  horizon.  Only  150  yards  distant, 
and  in  positions  equally  good  from  the  tactical  point  of  view, 
the  dugouts  could  have  been  excavated  in  a  dry,  impervious 
formation.  Ignorance  of  the  very  simple  geological  structure 
of  the  dissected  plateau  was  responsible  for  the  commission 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY  207 

of  an  error  under  circumstances  when  errors  meant  loss  of 
human  lives. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  French  Army,  so  in  most  of  the  other 
Allied  armies  geological  maps  and  geological  knowledge  were 
utilized  locally,  sometimes  on  a  very  considerable  scale,  but 
without  any  such  systematic  development  of  the  work  as  took 
place  in  the  British  Expeditionary  Force.  On  the  Italian  front 
I  was  informed  that  General  Porro,  Chief  of  Staff  to  General 
Cadorna,  was  especially  interested  in  the  relation  of  geological 
science  to  military  problems,  and  that  he  made  much  use  of 
geology  in  connection  with  the  important  engineering  projects 
undertaken  during  the  Italian  offensives  in  the  Trentino  and 
Carso  regions.  At  the  time  of  my  visit  the  Carso  front  had 
been  lost  to  the  enemy,  and  General  Porro  had  retired  with 
Cadorna ;  so  it  was  not  practicable  to  learn  just  how  much 
geology  had  contributed  to  those  great  engineering  works  which 
preceded  all  principal  attacks  on  the  limestone  plateaus  beyond 
the  Isonzo.  On  Mount  Grappa  and  other  strategic  heights 
farther  west  the  surface  was  undermined  by  a  labyrinth  of 
tunnels  and  galleries  cut  in  solid  rock,  in  the  excavation  of 
which  the  geologist  had  been  called  in  as  adviser.  It  was  an 
Italian  engineer  with  a  geological  training  who  ran  the  tunnel 
under  Mount  Tofana  and  placed  the  great  mine  which  blew 
off  the  summit  of  that  peak  thus  destroying  a  noted  Austrian 
fortress.  Geological  advice  was  sought  by  the  Italian  Army 
in  connection  with  its  extensive  road-building  operations,  its 
water-supply  problems,  and  other  engineering  work.  But  there 
was  apparently  lacking  any  systematically  organized  geological 
corps. 

At  the  General  Headquarters  of  the  Armies  at  Salonika  I 
found  an  army  engineer  having  some  knowledge  of  geology, 
at  work  on  a  geological  map  of  the  peninsula  for  military  use. 
This  map  was  largely  based  on  an  earlier  one  by  Jovan  Cvijic, 
the  well-known  Serbian  geologist,  but  contained  new  informa- 
tion secured  in  the  course  of  the  military  operations.  It  was 
designed,  however,  to  show  sources  of  valuable  minerals,  ma- 


208  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

terials  for  concrete,  road  metal,  and  similar  economic  products, 
and  was  not  sufficiently  detailed  nor  exact  to  guide  engineer- 
ing works  below  the  surface. 

In  the  Russian  Armies  it  was  the  practice  to  attach  to  each 
large  division  of  the  military  forces  a  technical  corps  which 
included  at  least  one  geologist  and  his  assistants.  There  were 
said  to  be  seventeen  of  these  units  with  their  associated  geolog- 
ists on  the  Russian  front.  It  was  the  duty  of  the  Russian 
geologists  to  advise  their  army  engineers  and  other  military 
authorities  regarding  the  usual  geological  factors  affecting  the 
construction  of  trenches,  shelters,  and  tunnels,  the  development 
of  water  supplies;  and  the  location  of  materials  needed  for 
the  building  of  roads,  fortifications,  and  other  military  engi- 
neering works. 

Before  Roumania  entered  the  war  her  government  commis- 
sioned the  Roumanian  Geological  Institute  under  the  director- 
ship of  its  excellent  chief  Professor  L.  Mrazec,  to  prepare 
a  report  with  map  on  the  surface  and  underground  water 
resources  of  the  Dobrudja.  This  work  was  duly  completed, 
but  the  engineers  of  the  Roumanian  Army  had  small  appre- 
ciation of  the  value  of  geology,  and  according  to  report  little 
use  was  made  of  the  important  information  put  at  their  dis- 
posal. The  Roumanian  armies  in  the  Dobrudja  suffered 
greatly  from  lack  of  a  proper  water  supply,  and  when  the 
Russians  entered  the  region  the  geologist  associated  'with  the 
Czar's  troops  was  astonished  to  find  on  the  one  hand  an  un- 
used report  on  the  water  resources  of  the  region,  and  on  the 
other  an  army  suffering  from  lack  of  water  through  the  short- 
sighted policy  of  its  engineers.  The  Russian  geologist  found 
the  work  of  the  Geological  Institute  of  so  much  value  that 
he  went  to  Bucharest  in  person  to  secure  further  details  about 
the  geology  of  the  country  in  which  the  Russian  troops  were 
stationed.  Among  other  problems  referred  to  the  Institute 
was  that  of  designing  camouflage  to  imitate  the  rock  outcrops 
of  certain  sections  of  Roumania.  But  in  general  the  geological 
services  rendered  after  the  country  entered  the  war  were  slight, 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY  209 

and   no   geological    organization    in    the   army   was    affected. 

America  entered  the  war  late,  and  while  she  thus  had  a 
smaller  space  of  time  in  which  to  develop  a  geological  service 
in  her  armies,  she  had  on  the  other  hand  the  advantages  of 
long  time  for  preparation  and  a  well-equipped  geological  sur- 
vey upon  which  to  draw  for  men  and  material.  Frankness 
compels  one  to  say  that  she  did  not  profit  fully  from  these  ad- 
vantages. The  criminal  stupidity  which  brought  us  unpre- 
pared into  a  war  which  had  been  threatening  us  for  many  long 
months,  necessarily  had  its  deplorable  consequences  in  every 
branch  of  the  service.  A  million  men  might  spring  to  arms 
over  night,  but  when  they  got  done  springing  they  found  there 
were  no  arms  to  spring  to.  In  the  months  of  feverish  prepara- 
tion which  followed  it  could  not  be  expected  that  among  the 
thousands  of  things  to  be  done  proper  provision  would  be  made 
for  an  adequate  military  geological  service.  That  could  only 
come  with  time. 

American  energy,  however,  in  some  measure,  compensated 
for  our  other  shortcomings.  The  first  contingent  of  officers 
which  arrived  in  France  to  prepare  for  the  coming  armies  sent 
back  word  that  geologists  were  needed.  Before  the  Armistice 
was  declared  America  ranked  next  to  Great  Britain  among  the 
Western  Allies  in  respect  to  the  excellence  of  the  geological 
service  attached  to  its  armies  at  the  front,  and  was  rapidly  ad- 
vancing to  a  leading  position.  Nine  geologists  were  at  that 
time  attached  to  our  field  forces,  and  more  had  been  summoned 
for  service. 

Under  the  able  direction  of  Lieut.  Col.  Alfred  H.  Brooks, 
the  American  geologists  took  up  the  task  of  supplying  our 
armies  with  much  the  same  material  and  information  as  have 
already  been  described  in  earlier  pages  relating  to  the  work 
of  the  British  geologists.  Geological  maps,  based  in  part  on 
earlier  French  reports  and  in  part  on  new  observations,  were 
carefully  prepared  and  beautifully  printed  in  colors.  The 
accompanying  descriptions  of  formations  were  not  the  technical 
and  purely  scientific  accounts  common  to  ordinary  geological 


210  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

maps,  but  practical  descriptions  of  such  features  of  each  forma- 
tion as  were  important  from  the  military  point  of  view.  From 
these  maps  the  army  engineers  could  tell  at  once  which  forma- 
tions were  filled  with  water,  which  were  dry  and  suitable  for 
the  location  of  dugouts,  tunnels,  and  subways;  in  which  the 
walls  of  trenches  would  remain  vertical  for  a  long  time,  and 
which  would  require  timbering  to  prevent  the  slumping  down 
of  trench  walls;  which  would  give  muddy  and  marshy  surface, 
and  which  would  yield  valuable  deposits  of  road  metal  and 
other  construction  materials. 

Of  equal  importance  were  the  different  types  of  water  supply 
maps,  showing  which  formations  carried  ample  quantities  of 
good  water;  what  was  the  depth  below  the  surface  of  the 
groundwater  level  at  any  point ;  where  existing  wells  were 
located ;  where  new  ones  should  be  placed,  and  where  springs 
could  be  sought  with  success;  and  all  the  needful  information 
for  those  upon  whose  shoulders  rested  the  heavy  responsibility 
of  providing  the  enormous  numbers  of  men  concentrated  in  the 
war  zone  with  sanitary  supplies  of  water  for  drinking  and 
other  purposes.  There  were  also  maps  to  show  the  different 
types  of  surface  over  which  the  advancing  armies  would  have 
to  pass  following  their  offensives,  and  to  portray  other  data 
of  high  military  value. 

It  would  involve  needless  repetition  to  show  in  detail  how 
the  American  geologists  proceeded  to  meet  the  same  needs  of 
their  armies  which  the  British  in  their  earlier  work  had  demon- 
strated could  be  met  with  enormous  advantage  to  the  efficiency 
of  the  military  machine.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the  excellent 
work  directed  by  Col.  Brooks  confirmed  anew  the  value  of 
geology  as  an  adjunct  to  military  operations,  and  commanded 
the  respect  and  praise  of  our  French  and  British  associates. 

Geologists  were  naturally  much  interested  to  know  whether 
the  great  military  machine  which  the  German  Government 
built  up  for  their  war  of  world  conquest,  was  efficient  enough 
to  provide  an  adequate  corps  of  geological  workers  for  their 
armies.  There  is  evidence  to  show  that  in  the  beginning  not 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY  211 

even  the  Germans  realized  the  value  of  geological  knowledge 
as  a  military  asset,  doubtless  in  part  because  they  expected  an 
easy  victory  over  their  unprepared  victims,  and  had  no  idea  of 
having  to  fight  much  of  the  war  underground.  But  they  were 
not  long  in  realizing  and  correcting  their  mistake,  and  with  the 
usual  German  thoroughness  they  then  provided  a  sufficient 
force  of  geologists  to  conduct  the  necessary  investigations  in  a 
comprehensive  manner.  Captured  documents  indicated  that 
from  ten  to  fifteen  geologists  were  assigned  to  each  army  oper- 
ating on  the  western  front.  The  size  of  their  organization 
enabled  the  German  geologists  to  meet  demands  for  geological 
advice  wherever  they  arose,  and  to  bring  out  special  geological 
maps  of  army  corps  areas  on  a  scale  of  1 125,000. 

As  an  indication  of  the  value  attached  to  geological  work 
in  the  German  armies  there  is  reprinted  here  a  translation  of 
one  of  several  German  orders  relating  to  geological  work 
which  were  captured  by  the  Allies. 

"  i.A.54048  (B)  24.1. 

Geological  Section  of  the  Fifth  Army,  Nr.  1/466 
Corps  Headquarters, 
1-10-1917. 

1.  The  Geologists  of  the  Fifth  Army  belong  to  Field  Survey 
Companies  3  and  15,  and  form  a  geological  section  within  these 
Companies. 

Res^rvre  Lieutenant  WEIGEL  is  in  command  of  this  Section. 

2.  For  the  establishment  of  Geological  Offices  the  Geologists  are 
distributed  throughout  the  Army  Area  according  to  the  subjoined 
summary. 

3.  Applications  for  the  services  of  the  Geologists  will  be  made 
direct,  and  to  avoid  unnecessary  delay  should  give  the  object  of 
the  application  and  the  exact  location  of  the  Area  to  be  investi- 
gated. 

The  Geologists  deal  direct  with  the  formation  of  their  Army 
Sector. 

4.  Ajolications   for  the   service  of  Geologists  must  always  be 
sent  to  "he  Geological  Offices  of  the  Section  which  is  nearest  to 
the  formation  which  makes  the  application. 


212  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

5.  For  Geological  work  in  forward  areas  and  on  lines  of  com- 
munication, the  formation  that  demands  the  work  must  provide 
labor  and  transport,  and  arrange  for  the  rationing  and  billeting. 

6.  The  duty  of  the  Geologist   is   immediate   assistance  to  the 
troops  in  cases  where  the  structure  of  the  ground  and  its  water 
bearing   qualities   are   a   consideration.     Geological    advice   is   of 
special  importance  with  reference  to  the  following  problems: 

/.  Construction  of  positions. 

The  assistance  of  a  Geologist  at  the  first  reconnaissance  of  the 
country,  before  the  lines  are  finally  fixed,  has  proved  of  special 
value.  See  regulations  for  Trench  Warfare,  for  all  arms  of  the 
Service,  i.b.  Cipher  2,  and  Part  II,  Directions  for  the  laying  out 
of  trenches,  tunnelled  dugouts,  dugouts,  etc. 

(a).  In  case  where  several  points  are  of  the  same  tactical  value, 
by  choosing  such  as  require  the  minimum  expenditure  of  labour, 
time  and  material,  and  are  not  likely  to  involve  landslides  or 
inflow  of  water. 

(b).  The  prediction  in  the  case  of  lines  already  dug,  as  to  what 
difficulties  are  likely  to  occur  arising  out  of  the  hardness  of  the 
strata,  and  their  water-bearing  qualities. 

(c).  Information  as  to  tracts  in  which  dry  dugouts  are  definitely 
impossible,  or  whether  there  is  any  prospect  of  draining  them  by 
natural  means,  as  by  drainage  sumps. 

(d).  Testing  the  possibility  of  putting  in  dry  tunnelled  dugouts 
under  the  water-bearing  strata. 

(e).  Advice  on  subways  and  galleries.  Information  as  to  ),vhich 
strata  are  the  easiest  to  work,  whether  there  is  risk  of  landslide 
or  inflow  of  water,  the  possibility  of  tunneling  under  water 
channels.  j 

(f).  A  preliminary  investigation  with  a  view  to  the  use  of  boring 
machines  in  mines  warfare.  Selection  of  favorable  and  exclusion 
of  unfavorable  strata. 

(g).  Information  as  to  the  best  dugouts  for  listening  posts  and 
so  forth. 

(h).  Opinion  as  to  the  stability  of  existing  "subterraneans" 
(caves  and  quarries.)  j( 

(i).  Inundations  and  drainage  of  areas. 


, 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY  213 


.  Water  Supply. 

(a).  Improvement  of  existing  wells  and  selection  of  sites  for 
new  ones. 

(b).  Making  good  defects  in  existing  springs,  and  the  opening 
up  of  new  ones. 

(c).  Information  as  to  places  especially  suited  for  driving  wells 
(wells  made  by  percussion,  Abyssinian  wells.) 

(d).  The  development  of  deep-seated  water  basins  by  deep  bores. 

(e).  The  ensuring  of  water  supply  for  the  defensive  battle. 

(f).  Advice  on  construction  of  water  conduits,  the  water  supply 
of  towns  and  camps,  and  of  industrial  and  commercial  establish- 
ments. 

///.  Winning  of  Raw  Material. 

(a).  For  immediate  use  in  the  field.  The  providing  of  gravel, 
sand,  loam,  clay,  building  stone,  material  for  cement  and  plaster, 
road  metal,  railway  ballast  and  peat,  as  near  as  possible  to  the 
places  where  they  are  to  be  used.  The  marking  out  of  stone  quar- 
ries, estimate  of  quantities,  information  about  the  stratification 
and  best  way  of  working. 

(b).  Providing  of  raw  materials  for  supplying  the  needs  of  the 
army.  One  of  the  first  considerations  is  the  supply,  for  example, 
of  pyrites,  phosphates,  copper,  and,  in  the  Balkan  peninsula,  of 
coal  also,  for  the  Directors  of  Military  Railways. 

(c).  Records  of  the  existence  in  more  distant  industrial  fields  of 
material  available  for  meeting  the  requirements  of  munition  and 
ordnance  factories  (new  occurrences),  abandoned  mines,  and  their 
ancient  mine  and  slag  dumps. 

Of  chief  importance  are  ores,  rock-oil,  coal,  asphalt  and  other 
materials  useful  in  the  economies  of  war. 

IV.  Hygienic  and  Technical  Problems. 

(a).  Advice  on  the  location  of  sumps  for  drainage,  cesspits, 
drainage  in  general,  disinfecting  and  germicidal  establishments 
and  cemeteries  from  the  point  of  view  of  risk  of  contamination 
of  sources  of  water  supply. 

(b).  The  defining  of  drainage  areas  with  a  view  to  the  protection 
of  wells  and  springs,  having  due  regard  to  the  nature  of  the 
ground. 


214  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

(c).  Electrical  problems  so  far  as  controlled  by  the  condition  of 
the  ground  with  reference  to  earthing,  erecting  masts  and  bury- 
ing cables. 

(d).  Advice  on  the  locating  of  roads,  field  railways,  light  rail- 
ways, cable  tram-lines,  with  a  view  to  avoiding  cutting  and  em- 
bankment slides. 

(e).  Appreciation  of  suitable  sites  for  dams. 

V.  Other  Military  Problems. 

(a).  Careful    observation    of    the    structure    of    the    substrata 
(nature,  solidity,  water-content)  for  standing  camps, 
(b).  Choice  of  dry  substrata  for  munition  dumps, 
(c).  Choice  of  suitable  natural  solid  surfaces  for  heavy  guns, 
(d).  Choice  of  spots  naturally  fitted  for  aerodromes. 
7.  The  function  of  the  Geologist  is  only  advisory.     It  is  not  his 
province  to  see  to  the  technical  development  of  propositions  by 
elaborating  them  from  plans  or  by  actual  superintendence  of  the 
work. 

Signed  WEIGEL, 
Reserve  Lieutenant, 
Commander  of  the  Geological  Section  of  the  Fifth  Army. 

Among  other  documents  captured  from  the  Germans  were 
water-supply  and  geological  maps  of  various  types,  prepared 
at  the  front  by  the  German  geologists.  Some  of  the  maps, 
particularly  those  showing  aerial  geology,  were  very  detailed, 
printed  in  colors,  and  accompanied  by  cross-sections  in  colors. 
Such  maps  were  prepared  for  each  army  corps  area,  and  addi- 
tional detailed  maps  were  printed  for  smaller  areas  of  special 
importance.  Both  types  of  maps  were  executed  with  much 
care.  Instead  of  being  mere  enlargements  of  the  previously 
existing  French  maps  (which  were  often  old  and  inaccurate) 
both  the  topography  and  the  geology  were  resurveyed,  and  the 
results  were  more  accurate  and  detailed  than  the  data  shown 
on  previous  maps. 

The  German  geologists  endeavored  to  make  their  reports  and 
maps  as  untechnical  and  as  practically  useful  as  possible.  The 
descriptions  of  formations  and  explanations  of  structure  were 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY  215 

carefully  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  military  authorities,  and 
the  language  used  was  such  that  persons  having  no  geological 
training  could  make  use  of  the  information  conveyed.  That 
the  German  geologists  served  their  armies  well  was  abundantly 
testified  to  by  the  Allied  army  engineers^  who  repeatedly  re- 
marked the  skill  with  which  the  enemy  turned  surface  form 
and  underground  structure  to  his  advantage  in  all  his  engineer- 
ing works. 

Nothing  has  yet  been  said  of  the  highly  valuable  services 
rendered  by  the  geologists  of  most  if  not  all  of  the  combatant 
nations,  in  connection  with  the  great  work  of  mobilizing  all  the 
resources  of  each  country  in  support  of  the  fighting  machine. 
Not  only  on  the  War  Trade  Boards  and  similar  organizations 
engaged  in  studying  the  mineral  and  other  resources  of  Allied 
and  enemy  countries,  was  the  geologist  busy,  but  out  in  the  field, 
scattered  over  the  plains  and  in  remote  mountain  valleys,  in 
many  a  distant  corner  of  the  world,  geological  investigators 
might  have  been  found  seeking  new  deposits  of  the  type  of 
sand  necessary  for  the  best  optical  glass,  of  some  mineral  needed 
in  a  new  anti-submarine  device,  or  of  some  other  element 
required  in  the  manufacture  of  high  explosives,  poison  gas,  or 
any  one  of  a  hundred  other  products  essential  to  a  victorious 
issue  from  the  titanic  struggle.  In  laboratories  other  geologists 
were  working  day  and  night  to  test  these  materials  and  deter- 
mine their  fitness  for  various  military  uses.  Still  others  were 
examining  sites  of  cantonments,  reporting  on  their  water  sup- 
plies, and  preparing  detailed  studies  of  the  geology  and  topo- 
graphy for  use  by  those  engaged  in  the  task  of  training  a  great 
citizen  army.  At  Washington  the  United  States  Geological 
Survey  was  placing  its  equipment,  its  vast  stores  of  geological 
data,  and  its  personnel  at  the  country's  service,  and  the  Division 
of  Geology  and  Geography  of  the  National  Research  Council 
was  organizing  and  correlating  geological  war  work  throughout 
the  country,  and  keeping  in  direct  touch  with  the  geological 
needs  of  the  army,  thus  acting  as  a  clearing-house  for  geological 
information  of  every  kind.  In  other  capitals  similar  service, 


216  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

sometimes  well  organized,  sometimes  sporadic  and  less  suffi- 
cient, was  being  rendered  through  numberless  channels.  The 
whole  story  of  geology's  contribution  to  the  waging  of  the  world 
war  will  never  be  written;  but  enough  is  known  to  give  us  a 
realization  of  the  fact  that  it  was,  in  the  aggregate,  literally 
a  monumental  service. 

Geology  played  no  such  role  at  the  Peace  Conference  as  did 
its  sister  science  of  Geography.  In  the  very  nature  of  the 
case  the  territorial  settlements  were  primarily  geographical 
problems,  whereas  geology  merely  entered  into  that  and  other 
groups  of  questions  as  one  of  many  elements.  Perhaps  it  fig- 
ured most  largely  in  the  economic  problems  of  the  conference, 
including  the  problem  of  reparations. 

Long  before  the  Armistice  geologists  in  different  countries 
were  engaged  in  collecting  the  data  of  their  science  which 
would  be  needed  when  the  representatives  of  the  Powers 
gathered  about  the  green  table.  The  French  Government 
appointed  two  of  its  noted  geologists,  Emmanuel  de  Margerie 
and  Lucien  Cayeux,  and  a  military  officer  with  a  geological 
training,  to  examine  and  report  on  the  mineral  wealth  of  the 
regions  adjacent  to  the  northeastern  frontier  of  France,  includ- 
ing the  mining  regions  of  Alsace-Lorraine  which  it  was  deter- 
mined should  be  reunited  to  the  mother-country.  In  London, 
Washington,  and  other  capitals  individual  ^  geologists  and 
government  geological  bureaus  were  cooperating  in  assembling 
material  and  preparing  reports  and  maps  on  a  wide  variety  of 
questions.  The  American  "  Inquiry,"  the  French  "  Comite 
d'fitudes,"  and  other  bodies  specially  constituted  to  provide  the 
diplomats  of  their  respective  countries  with  information  on  the 
peace  settlement,  included  geologists  on  their  staffs  or  secured 
the  cooperation  of  geologists  in  their  work.  When  the  Confer- 
ence assembled  at  Paris,  geologists,  while  less  numerous  than 
the  geographers,  were  present;  some  of  them  throughout  the 
long  months  of  the  negotiations,  some  for  a  few  weeks  only, 
when  called  upon  to  aid  in  the  solution  of  some  particular 
problem.  Whether  it  was  the  Saar  Coal  Basin,  the  Teschen 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  GEOLOGY  217 

mining  district,  the  Silesian  coal  fields,  or  other  such  large  and 
difficult  questions ;  or  boundary  problems  involving  the  attribu- 
tion of  minor  deposits  like  the  Idria  mercury  mines,  recourse 
was  had  to  the  geologists  attached  to  the  delegations  and  to 
the  elaborate  reports  and  maps  they  had  prepared,  for  the  data 
needed  as  one  element  in  making  a  fair  readjustment  of  the 
world's  boundaries.  Geology,  like  Geography,  made  good  its 
title  to  a  place  among  those  sciences  which  the  governments  of 
peoples  can  not  neglect,  either  in  war  or  in  peace. 


THE  ROLE  OF  ENGINEERING 
IN  THE  WAR 


XIII 

ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  CONTRIBUTED 
DURING  THE  WAR 

A.  E.  KEN  NELLY 

THE  fighting  on  land,  in  the  world  war,  regarded  from  the 
American  point  of  view,  was  waged  on  a  battle  line 
roughly  750  kilometers  long,  reaching  from  the  coast  of  Bel- 
gium to  the  Swiss  Alps.  The  center  of  this  line  is  approxi- 
mately 6500  kilometers,  or  nearly  4000  miles,  from  the  War 
Department  Building  in  Washington,  D.  C,  the  army  adminis- 
trative base.  It  is  also  approximately  7250  kilometers  in  a 
bee  line,  or  4500  miles,  from  Chicago,  which  may  be  looked 
upon  as  the  center  of  gravity  of  America's  supplies  for  her 
army.  Consequently,  America's  overseas  army  of  two  million 
men  had  to  join  with  Allied  armies  at  a  distance  of  more  than 
one-third  of  the  sea-level  separation  from  pole  to  pole.  It  was, 
therefore,  of  the  utmost  importance  that  communication  be- 
tween Washington  and  the  American  Expeditionary  Force 
should  be  kept  at  the  highest  point  of  effectiveness. 

It  is  recorded  that  in  January,  1815,  the  news  of  the  Battle 
of  New  Orleans  did  not  reach  the  capitol  at  Washington  until 
two  weeks  after  the  battle  had  been  fought.  That  was  before 
the  days  of  the  electric  telegraph  and  telephone.  If  such 
restricted  conditions  of  communication  existed  to-day,  it  is  safe 
to  say  that  no  such  expedition  as  America  sent  to  Europe  could 
possibly  have  been  conducted  and  maintained.  In  fact,  the 
news  of  important  events  at  the  French  front  were,  in  this 
war,  frequently  delivered  in  Washington  before  the  hours  at 
which  those  events  occurred;  that  is,  within  the  five  hours' 

221 


222  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

difference  of  time  between  Greenwich  and  Washington.  In 
that  sense,  therefore,  America  knew  of  the  important  events 
of  the  war  before  the  times  at  which  they  happened. 

Again,  in  the  European  campaign  of  1815,  which  precipitated 
the  final  downfall  of  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  the  final  battle  took 
place  on  the  field  of  Waterloo.  From  the  top  of  a  tower  60 
meters  high  on  that  field,  the  visitor  is  shown  by  his  guide  the 
whole  scene  of  tactical  operations.  On  yonder  elevation,  the 
French  Emperor  sat  on  his  famous  white  horse,  directing,  by 
couriers,  the  movements  of  his  army.  Over  on  this  roadway, 
Wellington  rode  up  an/d  down  surveying  the  battle,  and  send- 
ing verbal  orders  to  his  commanders.  The  battle  opened  early 
in  the  afternoon,  and  the  fate  of  the  Napoleonic  empire  was 
virtually  sealed  before  darkness  set  in. 

Such  was  the  nature  of  the  last  preceding  great  struggle  in 
Europe,  when  electrical  communication  did  not  exist,  and  when 
the  first,  but  unsuccessful  experimental  electric  telegraph  was 
being  tried,  with  frictional  electricity,  under  discouraging  con- 
ditions, in  the  back  garden  of  Sir  Francis  Ronald's  house  at 
Hammersmith,  in  England. 

At  the  battle  on  the  European  western  front  in  which  the 
A.  E.  F.  participated  in  1918,  the  American  headquarters  was 
necessarily  remote  from  the  front  line  —  more  than  200  kilo- 
meters from  some  parts  of  it.  The  final  battle  lasted  about  four 
months.  Communication  had  to  be  constantly  maintained  by 
the  American  headquarters,  not  only  with  each  division  com- 
mander at  the  front,  but  also  with  the  various  reserves,  depots 
and  bases,  as  well  as  with  the  Allied  headquarters  and  with 
the  generalissimo  in  command  of  all  the  Allies.  Moreover, 
communication  had  to  be  maintained  by  each  division  head- 
quarters, not  only  with  its  most  distant  outposts,  through  bri- 
gade and  regimental  headquarters ;  but  also  with  its  observation 
balloons,  its  observation  posts,  airplanes  and  tanks.  The  army 
was,  therefore,  extended  over  a  vast  network  chain  of  electric 
communications  which  ended,  administratively  speaking,  in 
Washington.  Those  links  of  the  chains  which  cross  the 


ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  223 

Atlantic  Ocean  were  supervised  by  the  U.  S.  Navy.  The  rest 
of  the  network  was  under  the  control  of  the  U.  S.  Army  Signal 
Corps.  The  duty  of  maintaining  a  complete  system  of  electrical 
communication  between  Washington  and  the  American  Army 
overseas  thus  devolved,  in  large  measure,  on  the  Signal  Corps. 
Under  the  pressure  and  stimulus  of  this  duty,  the  very  con- 
siderable advances  in  signalling  which  were  made  during  the 
war,  were  largely  developed  in  and  by  the  Signal  Corps,  so 
that  the  story  of  that  advance,  from  the  American  viewpoint, 
is  mainly  an  account  of  signal-corps  achievement. 

Communication  across  the  Atlantic  was  maintained  mainly 
by  cables  underneath  the  ocean,  and  partly  by  radio,  or  so- 
called  "  wireless,"  over  the  ocean's  surface.  The  transatlantic 
cables  in  service  were  heavily  loaded.  A  few  of  them  were 
out  of  service  by  breaks,  partly  due  to  accident  and  partly  due 
to  war.  It  was  very  difficult  to  make  cable  repairs  in  the 
Atlantic  during  the  war,  on  account  of  the  dearth  of  men  and 
repairing  ships,  and  also  on  account  of  the  vigilance  of  hostile 
submarines.  Those  cables  which  remained  intact  were  worked 
at  the  maximum  available  speed,  duplex ;  i.e.,  in  both  directions 
simultaneously,  without  pause  or  interval  of  rest,  day  and  night 
continuously  throughout  the  year.  In  describing  sustained  and 
unremitting  business,  the  beaver  is  a  common  metaphor;  but 
the  beaver  is  a  very  lame  vehicle  of  expression  for  unceasing 
activity ;  because  he  sleeps  through  a  fair  share  of  each  twenty- 
four  hours.  As  busy  as  an  Atlantic  submarine  cable  during 
the  war,  would  be  a  much  more  apt  comparison  for  the  anti- 
thesis to  the  life  of  the  lily  of  the  field,  which  toils  not,  neither 
spins. 

In  order  to  supplement  the  work  of  the  cables,  great  improve- 
ments were  made  in  transatlantic  radio  signalling,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  navy ;  both  as  to  speed  and  precision,  especially 
between  the  naval  radio  station  at  New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  and 
a  similar  station  in  France.  The  results  attained  indicate  that 
even  without  any  new  discoveries,  or  epoch-making  inventions, 
the  prospects  of  long-distance  radio  communication  are  im- 


224 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


mense,  and  that  the  possible  capacity  for  the  transoceanic  radio 
traffic  of  the  world  is  nearly  two  hundred  times  as  great  as  that 
in  service  during  the  war ;  but  that  is  a  matter  "for  keeping  the 
future  out  of  the  lap  of  idleness. 

Before  the  war,  the  transatlantic  cables  from  America  landed 
mostly  in  the  British  Islands,  a  few  going  to  France  and  Ger- 


CODE 

•  tndicttes  MamLonj  L.nts  Built  ana 
Operated  by  the  Signal  Corps. 
Indicates  Main  Long  Lines 
Operated  by  the  SignolC 


Figure  I 
United  States  Army  system  of  wires 

many.  One  German  cable  was  cut  by  the  British,  at  sea,  in  the 
very  early  days  of  the  war,  and  was  later  diverted  to  Canada 
at  one  end  and  to  England  at  the  other,  while  another  cable  of 
Germany  was  diverted  to  France ;  so  that  all  transatlantic  cable 
communication  came  exclusively  under  the  operation  of  our 
Allies.  The  Germans,  thus  isolated  electrically  under  the 


ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  225 

ocean,  kept  up  a  continuous  stream  of  official  news  and  propa- 
ganda by  radio,  into  the  air  from  their  powerful  station  at 
Nauen  near  Berlin.  This  continual  outpouring  of  German 
bulletins  continued  by  radio  during  the  war,  and  could  be  read 
by  radio  stations  over  a  considerable  part  of  the  northern 
hemisphere,  including  stations  in  America.  Neutral  peoples 
could  receive  these  bulletins  unchecked.  In  Britain,  America, 
and  the  countries  of  their  Allies,  all  known  radio  stations  came 
under  government  control  during  the  war,  so  that  except  in  a 
£ew  surreptitious  instances,  these  electric  waves  of  propaganda 
passed  harmlessly  over  the  heads  of  the  peoples. 

Signal  Corps  Telegraph  and  Telephone  Lines  Abroad.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic,  the  Signal  Corps,  in  1917,  began 
building  and  leasing  a  complete  system  of  telegraph  and  tele- 
phone lines  in  France  and  England.  The  accompanying  map, 
Fig.  i,  shows  the  U.  S.  Army  system  of  wires  in  those  countries 
shortly  after  the  Armistice  and  after  communications  had  been 
carried  forward  into  the  occupied  region  of  Germany.  The 
heavy  lines  on  the  chart  indicate  conductors  built  and  operated 
by  the  Signal  Corps,  the  light  lines  those  which  were  operated 
by  the  Corps,  but  leased  from  the  respective  Allied  Govern- 
ments. The  system  is  seen  to  run  from  Brest,  St.  Nazaire,  and 
Bordeaux  with  their  environs,  through  Tours  and  Bourges  to 
Paris,  and  to  the  American  front  near  Toul  and  war-scarred 
Verdun.  Connecting  Paris  with  London  were  two  separate 
leased  lines,  one  crossing  the  channel  near  Boulogne,  and  the 
other  by  a  special  cable  near  Havre.  The  Signal  Corps  built 
in  France  about  3500  kilometers  of  pole  line,  carrying  some 
50,000  kilometers  of  copper  wire.  Counting  35,000  kilometers 
of  leased  wires,  120,000  kilometers  more  for  networks  of  tele- 
phone wire  from  the  various  headquarters  to  the  front,  and 
150,000  km.  of  locally  erected  army  telephone  wires,  the  Signal 
Corps  wire  system  comprised  a  total  of  approximately  358,500 
km.  of  wire  in  France  and  England,  or  nearly  enough,  if  spliced 
end  to  end,  to  reach  to  the  moon. 

The  traffic  which  this  army  telegraph  system  had  to  carry 


226  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

was  necessarily  very  heavy.  It  comprised  not  only  all  the 
telegraph  and  telephone  communications  between  different 
depots  and  headquarters  in  France ;  but  nearly  all  those  between 
the  army  and  America.  It  has  been  estimated  that  the  tele- 
graph system  carried  in  all  more  than  five  million  army 
messages  before  the  Armistice.  The  average  army  message  is 
much  longer  than  the  average  telegram  of  commercial  and 
civil  peace.  It  may  be  taken  as  sixty  words  in  length.  This 
represents  an  average  of  about  10,000  telegrams  or  600,000 
words  a  day.  The  highest  record  was  47,500  telegrams  or 
2,850,000  words  in  one  day. 

In  order  to  carry  this  heavy  traffic,  the  wires  had  to  be  worked 
by  specially  rapid  signalling  methods.  One  of  the  trunk  lines 
was  from  Paris  to  General  Headquarters  at  Chaumont,  and 
consisted  of  four  parallel  copper  wires  on  poles.  These  wires 
naturally  formed  two  pairs,  say  A,  B  and  C,  D.  Over  each  pair 
a  separate  telephone  circuit  was  arranged  in  the  ordinary  way. 
On  these  two  parts  an  additional  telephone  circuit  was  made 
up  of  the  type  known  as  the  "  phantom  circuit."  This  pro- 
vided, in  all,  three  sets  of  telephonic  communications  between 
Paris  and  Chaumont.  Moreover,  each  of  the  four  wires  was 
worked  as  a  telegraph  wire  without  interfering  with  the  tele- 
phonic conversations.  Wire  A  had  a  synchronous  three- 
channel  multiple  printing  telegraph  system  in  operation  over  it, 
permitting  three  messages  to  be  sent  simultaneously  in  each 
direction.  Wires  B,  C  and  D  were  also  each  worked  duplex,  or 
simultaneously  in  opposite  directions,  telegraphically.  As  the 
result,  twelve  streams  of  telegrams  —  six  each  way  —  were  ob- 
tained over  these  four  wires,  day  and  night,  in  addition  to  the 
telephonic  conversations. 

To  operate  these  telegraph  lines,  a  number  of  American 
operators  were  brought  over  to  France  in  the  Signal  Corps, 
and  a  number  were  also  trained  in  special  schools  overseas. 

Telephone  Service  with  A.  E.  F.  While  the  heavy  traffic 
of  main  army  communications  was  carried  on  by  telegraph,  a 
vast  amount  of  local  communication  was  conducted  by  tele- 


ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  227 

phone.  This  telephone  service  was  of  two  kinds;  namely, 
internal  telephone  service  within  the  army  itself,  and  external 
telephone  service  between  the  U.  S.  Army  and  other  armies 
or  more  specifically  (i)  external  service  between  the  U.  S. 
Army  and  officials  of  the  French  Army  or  civilian  life,  and  (2) 
internal  service  within  the  U.  S.  Army  organization  itself. 
Those  two  services  had  to  be  handled  in  different  ways. 

The  first  telephone  exchange  for  external  and  internal  service 
was  opened  by  the  Signal  Corps  in  Paris  during  June,  1917.  It 
served  to  connect  the  army  offices  with  each  other,  and  with 
the  French  telephone  system.  American  soldier  operators  had 
no  difficulty  in  making  internal  connections;  since  the  English 
language  was  exclusively  used.  When,  however,  connections 
had  to  be  made  through  a  French  exchange,  it  was  necessary 
for  the  operator  to  be  familiar  with  the  French  language.  In 
fact,  he  had  to  be  skilled  in  the  use  of  French,  for  it  is  one 
thing  to  be  able  to  speak  to  a  person  face  to  face  in  a  foreign 
language  and  another  thing  entirely  to  speak  to  him  at  a  dis- 
tance, through  the  medium  of  the  telephone.  Although  the 
French  people  are  notoriously  tolerant  and  forbearing  with 
foreigners  attempting  to  speak  their  language,  the  diplomatic 
difficulties  are  enhanced  when  the  mutilation  of  their  language 
occurs  over  a  wire.  A  modus  vivendi  was  reached  by  using 
the  relatively  few  French-speaking  U.  S.  Army  operators  on 
the  external  switchboard  calls,  and  by  the  French  using  their 
relatively  few  English-speaking  operators  on  these  same  wires 
at  their  switchboards.  At  the  best,  however,  there  was  a  good 
deal  of  language  difficulty  in  the  external  telephone  service. 

To  cope  with  the  language  difficulty  over  telephone  wires 
that  had  to  convey  both  French  and  English  speech,  the  Signal 
Corps  called  in  the  aid  of  the  American  Telephone  and  Tele- 
graph Co.  in  the  States  to  furnish  female  operators  who  could 
speak  both  French  and  English,  for  service  with  the  army  in 
France.  There  were  hardly  any  such  bilingual  operators  in 
the  American  service;  so  they  had  to  be  advertised  for  and 
specially  trained  in  the  States  before  being  sent  to  France.  It 


228  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

was  supposed  that  French  Canadian  provinces  might  furnish 
such  persons  most  readily;  but  most  of  them  were  actually 
obtained  from  families  of  French  descent  living  in  the  States. 
They  responded  patriotically  to  the  call  and  underwent  a  swift 
and  strenuous  course  of  switchboard  training  in  New  York. 
They  were  then  assigned  to  the  Signal  Corps  and  taken  to  their 
posts  overseas  in  units.  All  were  dressed  in  blue  uniform  with 
a  telephone  transmitter  on  the  arm  as  insignia.  They  were 
located  by  groups  in  a  number  of  French  cities  and  towns. 
Their  arrival  was  always  followed  by  a  marked  improvement 
in  the  external  telephone  service.  Their  service,  often  under 
army  conditions  of  discomfort  and  even  danger,  was  rendered 
with  the  same  courage  and  cheerfulness  as  the  soldiers  dis- 
played. 

The  army  telephone  exchanges  rapidly  spread  and  multiplied 
as  the  American  divisions  arrived  in  France,  until  there  were 
273  installed  at  the  Armistice  date.  This  represented  a  very 
efficient  army  telephone  system.  It  will  be  remembered  that 
while  the  telegraph  services  of  Europe  have  always  been  excel- 
lent and  in  some  respects  superior  to  our  own,  the  telephone  and 
telephonic  service  have  from  the  very  outset  been  specially 
well  developed  an  America.  The  United  States  has  always 
led  the  way  in  the  extent  and  effectiveness  of  telephone  service 
and  equipment.  The  result  of  the  Signal  Corps  telephonic 
system  installation  was  an  excellent  system  of  communication 
behind  all  the  American  lines.  It  is  credibly  asserted  that 
Marshal  Foch,  in  the  course  of  his  many  journeys  along  the 
Allied  front,  would  always  order  his  chauffeur  to  find  the 
nearest  American  telephone  exchange,  when  he  desired  to  stop 
and  talk  with  any  of  his  lieutenants;  because  he  felt  he  could 
rely  on  the  Signal  Corps  not  only  to  provide  prompt  service 
to  any  post,  but  also  to  keep  its  system  patrolled  against  eaves- 
dropping by  enemy  spies. 

A  portable  telephone  exchange  at  brigade  headquarters  is 
illustrated  in  Fig.  2.  At  the  back  of  the  room  is  a  telephone 
desk  set  captured  from  the  German  army.  Fig.  4  shows  a 


Figure  4.     Portable  outpost  switchboard 


Figure  5.     Signallers  in  gas  masks  talking  with  observer  in  a  captive 

balloon 


ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  229 

portable  telephone  outpost  switchboard  for  outdoor  installa- 
tion under  forest  cover.  As  the  telephone  is  carried  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  front  line,  it  naturally  enough  assumes  a  less  per- 
manent appearance  and  becomes  increasingly  rough-and-ready. 
This  is  indicated  by  Figures  3  and  4.  Of  these,  the  former, 
Figure  3,  shows  a  little  four-line  switchboard  which  has  been 
set  up,  and  is  in  use,  on  a  street  doorway.  In  all  the  apparatus, 
serviceability,  adaptability,  and  simplicity  were  of  prime  im- 
portance, while  finish  and  appearance  were  sacrificed. 

As  may  be  easily  imagined,  a  very  large  amount  of  insulated 
twisted-pair  telephone  wire  was  needed  to  maintain  telephone 
connection  between  all  the  elements  of  an  advancing  division. 
Very  often  there  was  no  time  or  opportunity  to  pick  up  and 
reel  in  wire  already  in  position,  when  new  orders  came  to 
march.  Consequently,  arrangements  had  to  be  made  to  pay 
out  new  wire  rapidly. 

In  the  billeting  and  rest  areas  well  behind  the  front,  the 
telephone  wires  could  be  maintained  without  much  trouble; 
but  near  the  front  trenches  the  wires  were  continually  subject 
to  damage  by  shell-fire.  It  was  necessary  to  keep  men  con- 
stantly engaged  on  repairs,  a  very  important,  but  very  hazardous 
duty.  Much  of  this  work  had  to  be  done  under  long  sustained 
gas-mask  protection.  A  picture  of  two  signallers  in  their  gas 
masks  exchanging  telephone  messages  with  an  observer  in  a 
captive  balloon  overhead,  through  a  pair  of  twisted  wires  in 
the  balloon  rope,  appears  in  Fig.  5. 

In  the  colloquial  language  of  many  telephonists,  telephones 
and  telephone  circuits  are  apt  to  be  "  in  trouble."  There  are 
"  trouble  men  "  appointed  to  each  exchange.  If  a  telephone 
man  is  said  to  be  in  trouble,  the  statement  excites  no  remark ; 
since  that  is  part  of  the  established  order  of  telephonic  things. 
When,  however,  the  troubles  besetting  a  telephone  man  are  so 
numerous  and  inordinate  as  to  do  injustice  to  reason  and 
probability,  he  is  described  as  being  "  in  grief,"  and  then  eti- 
quette requires  that  sympathy  should  be  extended.  According 
to  this  philosophy  of  the  art,  the  wires  were  "in  grief"  in 


230  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

most  front-line  areas.  It  is  recorded  that,  on  one  occasion,  a 
telephone  line  I  kilometer  long,  near  Soissons,  had  350  breaks 
in  it,  due  to  shell-fire.  On  another  occasion,  a  Signal  Corps 
officer  had  laid  down  eight  separate  and  independently  insulated 
telephone  lines  along  the  same  shell-swept  route  to  an  artillery 
outpost,  on  the  principle  made  famous  by  Shakespeare's  Maria 
"  If  one  break  the  other  will  hold  "  and  so  that  one  at  least 
might  be  hoped  to  remain  in  serviceable  condition  for  a  few 
hours.  To  his  dismay,  a  tank  crossed  this  area  shortly  after- 
wards, caught  the  wires  in  its  advance,  and  twisted  them  into 
a  battered  tangle  of  loose  ends.  In  all  such  cases,  reliance  had 
to  be  placed  on  other  methods  of  communication.  These  were 
wireless  electric  methods ;  but  there  were  also  flash-light  signal- 
ling and  flag  signalling,  where  suitable  protective  cover  could 
be  secured.  Moreover,  carrier  pigeons  and  despatch  runners 
remained  as  ultimate  resources. 

Radio  Communication  in  Front  Areas.  Radio  communica- 
tion was  very  extensively  used  in  the  War  by  all  the  armies. 
It  is  not  entirely  new  in  war ;  because  it  was  used  to  a  limited 
extent  both  in  the  Boer  war  and  in  the  Russo-Japanese  war. 
Nevertheless,  it  was  a  novelty  of  this  war,  in  the  sense  that 
never  before  has  such  great  reliance  been  placed  upon  wireless 
methods,  and  never  have  armies  used  it  on  so  large  a  scale. 
Moreover,  in  the  next  war,  which  every  one  hopes  may  be  long 
deferred,  the  expectation,  from  past  experience  and  present 
knowledge,  is  that  the  radio  apparatus  will  play  almost  as 
important  a  part  in  infantry  tactics  as  the  rifle. 

The  improvements  in  radio  signalling  as  carried  on  in  our 
army  were  of  three  kinds,  which  may  best  be  considered  sepa- 
rately ;  namely, 

(i).  Improvements  in  the  apparatus  used  for  radio- 
telegraphy,  particularly  in  vacuum  tubes. 

(2).  Improvements  in  radiotelephony,  particularly  as  used 
for  airplanes. 

(3).  Improvements  in  radiogoniometry,  or  direction  find- 
ing. 


ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  231 

Vacuum  Tubes.  One  of  the  most  wonderful  devices  de- 
veloped during  the  last  few  years,  in  connection  with  radio 
communication,  is  the  vacuum  tube.  It  is  used  as  part  of  the 
sending  apparatus  for  transmitting  radio  messages,  and  also 
as  part  of  the  receiving  apparatus,  as  well  as  for  various  other 
accessory  purposes.  Fig.  8  shows  two  forms  of  such  a  tube. 
That  on  the  right  hand  is  structurally  the  stronger,  and  for 
army  work  has  now  superseded  that  on  the  left  hand;  but, 
in  principle,  they  are  identical.  The  vacuum  chamber  is  a 
highly  exhausted  glass  bulb,  not  much  bigger  than  a  hen's  egg. 
At  the  center  of  this  vacuum  chamber  is  an  incandescent  fila- 
ment in  the  form  of  a  long  inverted  V,  which  receives  heating 
current  through  two  of  the  four  insulated  base  pegs  in  the 
base.  On  each  side  of  the  filament,  near  to  it,  but  not  touching, 
is  a  vertical  metallic  wire  grid  or  grating  connected  with  a  thirdv 
insulated  base  peg.  Outside  the  grid  are  two  vertical  metallic 
plates.  These  two  parallel  plates  are  electrically  connected 
and  make  permanent  contact  with  the  fourth  insulated  base  peg. 

So  long  as  the  filament  on  the  inside  of  the  system  is  un- 
heated,  the  filament,  grid,  and  plate  remain  highly  insulated 
from  each  other,  although  in  close  proximity  within  the  vacuum 
chamber.  No  current  will  flow  from  one  to  another  even  under 
relatively  powerful  voltage.  They  are  mechanically  so  near, 
and  yet  electrically  so  far.  When,  however,  an  electric  current 
is  passed  through  the  filament,  so  as  to  heat  it  to  cherry  redness, 
the  tube  becomes  a  scene  of  marvellous  activity,  most  of  which 
remains  invisible  to  the  eye.  The  red  hot  filament  disengages 
and  throws  out  infinitesimally  small  particles,  called  corpuscles, 
of  negatively  electrified  substance.  If  the  plates  are  connected 
to  the  positive  pole  of  a  dry  battery,  these  negative  corpuscles, 
launched  from  the  glowing  filament,  will  be  attracted  to  the 
plates,  and  will  bombard  them.  In  so  doing,  they  will  give  up 
their  negative  charges  to  the  plates,  and  cause  a  current  to  flow 
to  the  latter  from  the  dry  battery.  The  strength  of  this  current 
can  be  greatly  varied  by  varying  the  charge  given  to  the  inter- 
vening grid  or  metallic  grating.  If  this  grid  is  made  positive, 


232  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

the  corpuscles  being  negative,  will  be  accelerated,  and  pulled 
through  from  the  filament  to  the  outside  plates  at  a  rapid  rate ; 
whereas  if  the  grid  is  made  negative,  the  stream  of  bombarding 
corpuscles  will  be  either  retarded,  or  shut  off  altogether.  Con- 
sequently, the  application  of  a  relatively  feeble  electric  impulse 
to  the  grid  can  be  made  to  control  and  deliver  powerful  electric 
currents  to  the  plate.  In  this  way,  when  the  tube  is  used  as  a 
receiving  device,  it  is  made  to  amplify  or  enlarge  the  received 
electric  current.  It  is  then  called  an  amplifier.  On  the  other 
hand,  when  used  as  a  generating  device,  it  can  cause  a  rapidly 
alternating  and  powerful  current  to  flow  in  the  generator  cir- 
cuit, under  a  very  moderate  initial  stimulus.  It  is  then  called 
an  oscillator.  The  capabilities  of  these  tubes  are  astonishing. 
A  ^eries  of  them  is  frequently  used  as  a  multiple  amplifier,  in 
receiving  and  magnifying  very  faint  radio  signals.  Each  tube 
may  successively  multiply  the  strength  of  the  received  signal 
say  ten  times.  A  two-tube  system  can  then  amplify  100  times, 
and  a  three-tube  system  1000  times.  Amplifiers  of  as  many 
as  20  tubes  have  been  occasionally  used,  and  7-tube  amplifiers 
are  common;  but  the  available  ratio  of  amplification  is  not  so 
high,  when  so  long  a  succession  is  employed. 

At  first  sight,  it  might  well  be  considered  that  the  vacuum 
tube  was  merely  a  laboratory  device,  and  not  a  soldier's  imple- 
ment. It  is  fragile,  delicate  and  easily  injured.  The  condi- 
tions of  military  service  in  regard  to  transport  are  necessarily 
so  severe,  that  any  piece  of  military  apparatus  is  commonly 
required  to  be  capable  of  being  dropped  from  the  back  of  an 
army  mule  into  a  pool  of  mud  and  water,  without  suffering 
more  than  temporary  embarrassment.  Yet,  by  careful  design, 
and  the  cooperation  of  experts  in  manufacture,  the  Signal 
Corps  succeeded  in  producing  vacuum  tubes  that  would  safely 
withstand  the  vicissitudes  of  hurried  transportation  followed 
by  use  in  dugouts,  trenches  or  airplanes.  Large  numbers  of 
these  tubes  had  to  be  manufactured,  tested,  sorted  and  shipped 
to  the  army  in  France,  and  many  failures  had  to  be  encountered 
before  success  was  attained;  but  the  very  great  advances  that 


ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  233 

were  made  in  radio-signalling  during  the  war  are  attributable 
in  large  measure  to  that  success. 

As  an  example  of  what  was  accomplished  by  means  of  im- 
provements in  vacuum-tube  receivers,  it  may  suffice  to  describe 
a  single  receiving  radio  station  among  a  number  along  the  Allied 
lines  in  Europe.  In  an  ordinary  room  of  a  brick  building  at 
one  of  the  army  headquarters,  without  any  mast  or  external 
antenna,  was  a  vertical  wooden  frame,  about  2  meters  square, 
wound  with  wire  and  rotatable  about  a  vertical  axis.  Near  the 
frame  sat  a  soldier  operator,  with  a  pair  of  head  telephones  ad- 
justed to  his  ears.  These  telephones  were  connected  to  the 
loops  of  wire  on  the  frame,  through  a  vaccum-tube  amplifier  of 
several  stages.  The  room  was  kept  fairly  quiet,  so  that  he 
could  listen  attentively  to  the  faint  intermittent  buzzing  note  in 
the  telephones.  He  sat  writing  messages  in  pencil  on  a  pad 
before  him  for  an  hour  or  two,  when  he  would  be  relieved  by 
another  soldier.  Upon  the  wall,  was  a  large  map  of  Europe, 
on  which  were  marked  the  principal  radio  stations  of  the  Allied, 
neutral  and  enemy  countries,  with  prominent  electrical  charac- 
teristics serving  for  their  recognition.  By  turning  the  frame 
in  the  direction  of  the  particular  European  radio  station  sought, 
its  particular  ether  waves  could  be  tuned  to  and  detected  in 
the  telephone,  almost  to  the  complete  exclusiori  of  all  others. 
Since  these  principal  radio  stations  were  in  action  at  nearly  all 
hours,  each  could  be  located  in  turn,  and  made  to  reveal  the 
burden  of  its  story  as  launched  through  the  air  in  every  direc- 
tion over  land  and  sea.  In  actual  service,  however,  only  one 
station  would  be  followed  continuously,  and  all  that  it  said  was 
written  down  on  sheet  after  sheet  of  the  message  pad.  These 
sheets  were  then  carried,  at  regular  intervals,  to  the  Intelligence 
Section  of  the  General  Staff,  for  transcription  and  analysis. 
This  eavesdropping  on  the  ethereal  whisperings  around  the 
world  has  become  so  common  now  in  peace,  as  well  as  war,  that 
it  ceases  to  elicit  comment ;  yet  the  recent  great  development  is 
largely  due  to  the  Signal  Corps  of  the  armies  and  to  the  work 
of  men  in  army  uniform.  In  a  certain  sense,  there  has  come  to 


234  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

be  a  new  heaven  and  a  new  earth.  Just  as  a  spider  on  watch 
at  the  center  of  her  net,  becomes  a  combined  spider  and  net  or- 
ganization, extended  into  space  as  a  circular  plane  surface  with 
physiological  and  nervous  mechanism  at  the  center ;  so  a  human 
being  armed  with  a  sufficiently  powerful  radio  apparatus 
becomes  in  the  same  sense,  a  combined  man  and  ether  organiza- 
tion, pervading  the  whole  world,  and  capable  of  initiating  in- 
telligent response  over  all  the  globe.  This  new  man  and  ether 
organization  is  spherical  and  hollow  within,  since  its  present 
powers  and  realm  terminate  only  a  few  meters  below  the 
globular  surface  of  land  or  sea.  Its  outer  surface,  although 
roughly  spherical  also,  is  but  ill  defined  as  yet,  albeit  the  realm 
of  the  creature  probably  extends  everywhere  as  far  above  the 
globe  as  an  airplane  can  soar.  At  the  radiating  and  receiving 
center  of  this  spherical  being,  with  its  tentacles  all  over  the 
globe,  is  the  physiological  and  nervous  controlling  mechanism, 
or  the  man  power.  Yet  hundreds  of  men  situated  in  different 
parts  of  the  globe,  and  all  pervading  it,  can  radiate  out  their 
respective  tentacles  through  the  circumambient  ether  without 
conflict  or  interference. 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  the  war,  radio  communication  was 
employed  not  only  to  link  up  regimental,  brigade,  division  and 
army  corps  headquarters,  but  also  to  link  the  infantry  in  the 
trenches  with  their  regimental  headquarters,  and  the  observa- 
tion airplanes  with  their  artillery  commands.  The  radio  spark 
signalling  was  carried  on  from  the  trenches  with  the  aid  of 
a  low  portable  air  wire,  strung  in  or  close  behind  the  trench, 
and  worked  from  a  shelter  or  dugout.  It  was  open  to  the 
objection  that  the  radio  signals  were  capable  of  being  read  by 
friend  and  foe  alike. 

At  a  later  stage  of  the  war,  the  Signal  Corps  developed  a 
portable  and  collapsible  frame,  one  meter  square,  which  could 
be  operated  on  one  of  three  different  short  wave  lengths,  by 
sustained  oscillations  from  a  generator  vacuum  tube.  This  set 
was  found  to  be  very  reliable,  and  to  be  capable  of  sending  or 
receiving  signals  not  easily  detected  by  the  enemy.  Two  such 


ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  235 

square  frame  sets  are  able  to  maintain  communication  between 
them,  over  a  distance  of  5  km.  or  more,  even  when  each  is 
operated  in  a  deep  dugout. 

This  war  differed  from  preceding  wars  also  in  the  fact  that 
the  artillery  was  fired  at  distant  targets  it  very  rarely  saw,  and 
was  directed  by  targets,  on  which  it  did  not  aim.  In  such 
artillery  practice,  it  becomes  of  vital  importance  for  the  artillery 
commander  to  know  just  where  his  own  infantry  forward  lines 
are  located,  so  as  to  keep  his  fire  ahead  of  their  advance.  Port- 
able radio  loop  sets  are  invaluable  for  this  service,  as  they 
enable  communication  to  be  maintained  at  all  times  with  the 
advancing  lines. 

Airplane  Radio  Communication  During  the  War.  In  the 
early  days  of  the  war,  the  airplane  became  the  eyes  of  the  army. 
It  was  by  reports  from  airplanes,  that  the  British  were  able 
to  make  good  their  retreat  from  Mons  to  the  Marne,  during 
the  fateful  closing  days  of  August,  1914.  It  was  reports  from 
airplanes  that  gave  Foch  the  inspiration  for  his  daring  and 
epoch-making  thrust  through  the  German  lines  at  the  Marne 
on  September  9th,  1914.  It  was  airplanes  that  enabled  a 
trench  stalemate  to  be  maintained  for  nearly  three  years  there- 
after, by  eliminating  the  possibility  of  complete  surprise  on 
either  side  in  large-scale  strategy.  Above  all,  it  was  airplanes 
that  enabled  long-range  artillery  fire  to  be  controlled,  the  air- 
plane observer  signalling  to  the  artillery  outpost  the  effect  of  , 
each  shell  round. 

At  first,  the  signalling  between  the  airplane  and  the  observer 
on  the  ground  was  entirely  visual.  The  airplane  showed  a  flag 
or  released  a  visible  signal.  The  ground  observer  replied  to 
the  airman  by  means  of  large  flags,  or  other  visible  signals,  dis- 
played on  the  ground.  These  could  only  be  read  at  a  compara- 
tively short  range.  Later  in  the  war  one-way  radio  communi- 
cation was  introduced  into  airplane  fire  control.  The  observer 
in  the  airplane  let  out  a  wire  or  trailing  antenna  and  sent  his 
reports  in  radio  dots  and  dashes  on  this  wire.  A  receiving 
operator  in  a  radio  station  on  the  ground  received  these  sig- 


236  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

nals  and  delivered  the  message  by  telephone  to  the  artillery  of- 
ficer. The  reply  was  sent  back  from  the  ground  to  the  airman 
by  flags  or  ground  signals ;  because  although  radio  signals  sent 
from  the  ground  station  might  be  received  in  the  plane ;  yet  the 
loud  whirring  of  the  airplane  motor  made  such  signals  very 
difficult  to  detect  in  the  telephone. 

At  the  entrance  of  America  into  the  war,  one  of  the  first 
projects  of  our  Chief  Signal  Officer,  in  connection  with  radio 
development,  was  to  create  a  practicable  airplane  telephone  set. 
Events  happen  so  rapidly  in  the  air,  that  airplane  telegraphy 
with  its  dots  and  dashes  may  be  all  too  slow  at  some  critical 
period.  The  telephone  becomes  essential  to  successful  com- 
munication. The  difficulties  in  the  way  were  very  great,  if 
only  on  account  of  the  great  noise  in  airplanes  aloft.  It  has 
occasionally  happened  for  example,  that  the  pilot  and  the 
observer  in  one  and  the  same  airplane,  have  desired  to  com- 
municate with  each  other,  the  distance  between  them  being 
perhaps  only  a  couple  of  meters.  Shouting  was  of  no  use, 
and  even  an  umbrella  spanning  the  distance  between  the  men 
would  be  unavailing  for  intersignalling  purposes ;  so  that  they 
have  actually  given  up  the  attempt  to  come  to  an  understanding 
aloft,  and  have  wended  their  way  down  to  the  earth,  in  order 
to  stop  the  engine  and  talk  together.  The  problem  of  tele- 
phoning aloft  from  one  airplane  to  another  or  to  a  radio  station 
on  the  ground  was  thus  most  ambitious  and  difficult. 

The  problem  was  successfully  solved,  however,  with  the  aid 
of  the  experts  of  the  large  telephone  companies.  A  vacuum- 
tube  transmitter  and  a  two-stage  vacuum  tube  receiver  were 
developed,  which  could  readily  be  carried  on  an  airplane.  A 
carefully  designed  helmet,  with  rubber  caps  enclosing  a  tele- 
phone tightly  over  each  ear,  eliminated  most  of  the  engine 
noise,  and  then  a  trailing  antenna  from  each  airplane  enabled 
signals  to  be  exchanged.  A  reel,  like  a  large  fishing-rod  reel, 
mounted  on  the  outside  of  an  airplane  fusilage  pays  out  and 
reels  in  the  antenna  wire  with  a  metallic  weight  on  the  end, 
which  from  its  shape  is  called  a  "  fish." 


VT- 


Figure  8.     Types  of  vacuum  tube 


Figure  9.    Airplane  radiogenerator 


Figure  10.    Interior  parts  of  radiogenerator 


ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  237 

In  order  to  supply  electricity  for  the  airplane  set,  a  special 
little  dynamo  machine,  of  the  windmill  type,  is  supported 
underneath  the  fusilage,  so  as  to  be  driven  by  the  motion  of  the 
plane  through  the  air.  A  picture  of  this  machine  with  its  two 
windmill  blades  appears  in  Fig.  9.  The  apparatus  is  tapered 
away  towards  the  rear  in  stream-line  fashion,  so  as  to  offer  as 
little  useless  opposition  to  the  air  as  possible.  The  interior 
parts  of  one  of  these  airplane  radiogenerators  are  presented  to 
view  in  Fig.  10.  These  little  windmills  are  required  to  rotate 
at  a  nearly  constant  speed  over  a  wide  range  of  airplane 
velocity.  A  well-designed  fan  naturally  keps  its  speeds  of 
rotation  nearly  in  direct  proportion  to  the  speed  at  which  it  is 
pulled  through  the  air.  In  this  case,  however,  it  ought  not  to 
change  speed  when  the  airplane  goes  faster  or  slower.  This 
means  that  the  fan  has  to  be  designed  very  badly,  judged  from 
the  ordinary  standpoint.  One  officer  very  proudly  declared 
that  he  had  devised  for  this  purpose  the  worst  fan  design  in 
heaven  or  earth,  in  order  to  meet  the  required  conditions. 
There  is,  moreover,  a  vacuum-tube  automatic  compensator 
in  the  ogival  apex  of  the  dynamo  case,  which  also  aids  in 
maintaining  constant  voltage  over  a  wide  range  in  speed  through 
the  air. 

The  airplane  telephone  set  is  also  ordinarily  so  arranged  that 
the  observer  not  only  can  telephone  to  his  ground  station  up  to 
a  distance  of  say  20  kilometers  by  radio,  but  also  with  the  pilot 
of  the  plane,  sitting  close  to  him  in  the  next  cockpit,  by  ordinary 
wire  methods. 

Before  the  Signal  Corps  developed  this  aerial  telephone 
system,  each  airplane  necessarily  became  an  individual  fighting 
unit  with  only  limited  opportunities  for  concerted  action  after 
it  left  the  ground.  A  squadron  of  airplanes  might  fly  together 
under  the  leadership  of  its  squadron  commander,  and  follow  a 
preconcerted  procedure.  If,  however,  any  unforeseen  event  oc- 
curred during  the  flight  to  upset  the  original  plan,  the  comman- 
der had  very  little  hope  of  communicating  a  change  of  orders  to 
his  subordinates.  The  airplane  telephone  completely  altered 


238  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

this  condition  of  affairs.  The  squadron  commander  could  keep 
in  communication  with  all  his  planes,  so  long  as  they  did  not 
get  out  of  the  telephonic  range  from  him  of  say  5  kilometers. 
A  voice-commanded  squadron  then  becomes  a  new  fighting 
unit  of  greatly  improved  power  of  manoeuvering.  In  practice, 
it  is  customary  to  give  a  complete  sending  and  receiving  radio 
set  to  the  squadron  commander;  but  to  give  only  a  receiving 
radio  set  to  each  subordinate  plane.  The  subordinate  officers 
can  then  receive  orders,  but  have  no  means  of  answering  back. 
When  an  order  to  the  squadron  is  given  by  radio,  during  flight, 
the  planes  acknowledge  it,  each  in  turn,  by  a  quick  dip  to 
apprize  the  commander  of  their  acceptance.  If,  however,  a 
plane  fails  to  get  the  order,  it  gives  a  "  wriggle  "  laterally, 
which  indicates  to  the  commander  that  the  order  should  be 
repeated. 

Another  great  advantage  of  a  voice-controlled  airplane 
squadron  is  that  if  a  warning  comes  of  a  threatened  attack 
from  a  distant  but  rapidly  approaching  hostile  squadron,  the 
airmen  on  duty  at  the  hangar  can  instantly  board  their  planes, 
get  off  into  the  air,  let  out  their  air  wires  and  commence  climb- 
ing to  the  altitude  of  expected  attack,  without  waiting  for 
detailed  instructions,  which  can  reach  them  later  by  radio  as  the 
situation  develops.  In  this  way,  precious  moments  needed  for 
climbing  can  be  utilized  without  loss  of  manoeuvering  power 
or  adequate  information  for  defense.  Many  a  hostile  airplane 
has  thus  been  intercepted  and  overthrown,  that  could  otherwise 
have  probably  dropped  its  bombs  on  an  undefended  target. 

Improvements  in  Radio  Goniometry,  or  Direction  Finding, 
during  the  War.  The  invisible  electromagnetic  waves  of  radio- 
communication  radiate  out  in  straight  lines  from  the  transmit- 
ting station  over  every  direction  of  the  compass,  like  the  rays 
of  light  from  a  lamp  or  an  open  fire.  Indeed,  these  electro- 
magnetic waves  are  agreed  to  be  identical  with  light  waves 
except  in  regard  to  their  length.  Whereas  the  waves  of  light 
that  are  visible  to  the  eye  are  only  a  fraction  of  one  micron,  or 
one  millionth  of  a  meter,  in  length,  the  waves  of  light  which 


ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  239 

carry  on  radio  communication  and  are  entirely  invisible  to  the 
eye  are  from,  say  20  meters  to  20  kilometers  in,  length.  A  very 
valuable  property  of  such  long  waves  is  that  they  bend  around, 
and  conform  to,  the  spherical  surface  of  land  and  sea ;  whereas 
short  and  visible  waves,  except  in  extreme  cases,  maintain 
straight  lines  in  their  advance.  If,  however,  the  eye  responded 
to  radio  waves,  we  might  expect  to  perceive  the  compass  bear- 
ing and  direction  of  their  source,  however  remote  it  might  be. 
Since  the  human  eye  is  unresponsive,  an  artificial  eye  has  to  be 
resorted  to,  which  shall  enable  by  its  indications  the  electrical 
bearing  and  direction  of  the  source  of  any  radio  waves  that  may 
be  received.  Such  an  instrument  is  a  radio-goniometer,  or 
radio  direction  finder. 

A  goniometer  may  be  mounted  on  the  roof  of  a  small  radio 
house  or  on  the  roof  of  a  traveling  radio  car,  or  fixed  on  an 
airplane.  The  goniometer  in  any  case  consists  of  a  square 
wooden  frame  of  insulated  wire  pivoted  on  a  vertical  axis, 
and  rotatable  by  an  observer  underneath  and  inside  the  house. 
The  observer  connects  the  ends  of  this  rotatable  coil  to  a  tuning 
condenser  and  a  sensitive  vacuum-tube  amplifier.  He  then  lis-^ 
tens  for  signals  in  his  head  telephone. 

When  the  plane  of  the  frame  coil  is  parallel  to  the  radio 
wave  front,  the  radio  waves  passing  the  frame  produce  no 
electric  disturbance  in  the  observer's  circuit,  and  no  sound  in 
his  ear.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  frame  coil  is  set  perpen- 
dicular to  the  arriving  radio  waves,  the  electric  disturbance 
and  telephonically  received  sound  will  be  a  maximum.  One 
way  of  getting  the  bearing  of  the  radio  station,  which  is  sending 
the  signals,  is  to  rotate  the  frame  until  the  sounds  in  the  tele- 
phone pass  through  zero.  The  frame  is  then  perpendicular  to 
the  direction  of  the  station  sought,  and  the  observer  can  read 
off  the  direction  from  a  horizontal  disk  at  the  foot  of  the  frame 
spindle.  By  practice,  an  observer  can  locate,  in  this  way,  the 
electric  bearing  or  direction  of  a  radio  station,  within  a  certain 
small  angle  of  uncertainty.  In  the  case  of  a  powerful  station, 
only  a  few  kilometers  away,  he  can  perhaps  assign  the  direction 


240  THE'  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

to  a  single  degree  of  arc.  If  the  station  is  feeble,  and  far  away, 
he  may  not  be  able  to  tell  the  exact  direction  to  perhaps  20 
degrees.  His  observations  do  not  tell  him  the  distance  of  the 
station  whose  direction  he  assigns,  except  as  he  may  guess  the 
distance  from  the  strength  of  the  received  signals.  But  if  there 
are  two,  or  still  better,  three  such  houses  equipped  with  radio 
goniometers,  and  their  positions  are  properly  marked  on  the 
map;  then  if  they  take  simultaneous  cross  bearings  of  the  same 
sending  radio  station,  the  signals  from  which  are  tuned  to  by 
all,  these  cross  bearings  will  locate  that  sending  station  definitely 
on  the  map. 

The  Allied  armies  in  Europe  maintained  a  coordinated  series 
of  goniostations  at  some  kilometers  distance  behind  the  fighting 
line  and  at  intervals  of  about  15  kilometers  along  it.  Radio 
watch  was  kept  in  these  stations,  day  and  night,  by  skilled 
observers,  who  thus  patrolled  the  ether.  Some  of  them  directed 
special  attention  to  giving  notice  of  the  approach  and  direction 
of  hostile  airplanes  having  radio  equipment.  Others  listened 
for  radio  messages  from  one  hostile  ground  station  to  another 
on  the  enemy's  side  of  the  line,  striving  to  record  both  the 
message  and  the  direction  of  the  station  whence  it  came. 
Again,  others  listened  for  and  responded  to  orders  from  Allied 
radio  officers  in  charge.  Each  goniostation  took  up  its  assigned 
duties  in  this  coordinated  patrol  work.  A  regular  code  of  radio 
procedure  was  planned  and  executed,  whereby  all  observers 
regularly  watched  and  recorded ;  but  emitted  radio  signals  only 
on  order.  The  ordinary  reports  from  each  goniostation  were 
transmitted  by  wire,  at  regular  intervals,  to  the  intelligence 
department  of  the  general  staff,  and  emergency  reports  upon 
the  instant.  By  dovetailing  simultaneous  directions  and  bear- 
ings from  adjacent  goniostations,  headquarters  was  able  to  plot 
the  positions  of  enemy  radio  stations  at  various  distances  behind 
the  opposing  lines,  to  decipher  the  enemy's  code  messages,  and 
to  keep  statistics  of  his  radio  traffic.  The  imminence  of  a 
threatened  attack  from  the  enemy  could  be  predicted  often  days 
in  advance,  by  studying  this  collected  material.  These  col- 


ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  241 

lected  radio  data  and  deductions  were  communicated,  at  suit- 
able intervals,  to  the  general  staff  and  neighboring  corps. 

The  enemy  was  evidently  well  aware  of  these  radio  hunts 
upon  his  preserves,  and  took  pains  to  evade  detection.  Thus, 
he  changed  the  code  names  of  his  radio  stations  at  very  fre- 
quent intervals.  He  limited  the  number  and  length  of  his 
messages  as  much  as  possible,  and  used  short  wave  lengths. 
The  shorter  the  message,  and  the  more  unusual  the  wave  length 
it  employed,  the  harder  it  was  for  our  radio  scouts  to  catch  the 
message,  and  fix  its  direction  of  origin.  On  the  other  hand, 
constant  practice  trained  the  observers  so  that  they  could  detect 
a  new  wave  length,  tune  to  it,  take  in  and  record  the  code 
message,  and  get  its  radio  direction,  all  in  a  few  seconds  of 
time.  The  patrol  became  a  strife  of  experts  on  each  side  with 
invisible  weapons  in  the  ether.  Some  observers  seemed  to 
develop  a  peculiar  ethereal  sense,  or  aptitude  for  hunting  and 
capturing  radio  raids.  Each  goniostation  so  manned  sent  out 
invisible  and  ethereal  feelers  into  space  over  a  range  of  a 
hundred  kilometers  or  more,  because  all  this  fishing  was  at 
relatively  short  radio  distance. 

The  goniostations  that  watched  for  radio  signals  from  enemy 
airplanes  could  sometimes  supply  captured  code  messages  to 
headquarters,  which,  when  deciphered,  would  enable  the  artil- 
lery officer  there  to  warn  by  wire  some  particular  battery  on 
which  fire  was  impending  from  hostile  batteries,  to  take  shelter 
in  time.  Moreover,  when  the  radio  officer  in  charge  of  a 
"  radio  net  "  received  sudden  warning  of  an  approaching  hostile 
radio-equipped  airship  squadron,  he  would  notify  his  fighting 
planes  at  the  nearest  hangar  to  take  the  air  and  order  certain 
of  his  goniostations  to  take  swift  radio  bearings  of  the  oncom- 
ing raiders.  The  instant  these  bearings  were  reported,  they 
were  laid  out  on  a  special  map  with  a  very  swift  geometrical 
apparatus,  and  the  distance  as  well  as  the  direction  of  the  hostile 
plane  from  hangar  read  and  given  to  the  fighting  pilots,  who 
took  their  direction  upwards  accordingly.  In  this  way,  many 
raids  were  intercepted  by  fighting  planes  and  not  a  few  crushed. 


242  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

The  success  of  such  manoeuvers  depended,  perhaps,  upon  skil- 
ful goniometry.  A  few  seconds  of  time  meant  victory  or 
defeat. 

Improvements  in  Aerogoniometry,  or  Direction  Finding  from 
Airships.  Just  as  ground  goniostations  were  able,  in  the 
manner  above  outlined,  to  measure  the  direction  of  a  distant 
and  invisible  airship  which  was  emitting  radio  signals  from  its 
trailing  antenna;  so  conversely,  it  became,  to  a  certain  extent, 
established  practice  among  the  Allied  air  services,  during  the 
war,  to  find  the  direction  of  certain  beacon  radio  stations  from 
on  board  a  flying  airship,  and  so,  by  cross  bearings,  locate  the 
observer's  position  over  the  land  or  sea.  In  particular,  there 
were  three  widely  separated  beacon  radio  stations  in  Great 
Britain,  which,  for  two  minutes^ just  before  each  hour,  suc- 
cessively emitted  signals  corresponding  to  certain  distinctive 
letters  of  the  alphabet,  on  a  definite  wave  length.  A  flying 
observer,  in  cloudy  weather,  wishing  to  locate  himself  at  such 
times,  could  find  the  radio  bearing  of  each  of  these  three  beacon 
stations,  and  so  lay  down  his  position  on  his  map  to  a  certain 
degree  of  precision.  The  radio  bearing  of  a  beacon  station 
could  be  measured  on  a  steady  airplane  course  to  about  one 
degree  of  arc.  The  precision  of  the  fix  obtained  from  cross 
bearings  would,  in  each  case,  depend  upon  the  distance  of  the 
flying  plane  from  the  beacons;  but  ordinarily  a  fix  within  10 
kilometers  of  the  actual  position  was  considered  satisfactory. 
A  distance  of  10  kilometers  would  be  passed  over  in  about  three 
or  four  minutes  of  rapid  flight.  These  gonio  bearings  were 
obtained  from  coils  mounted  on  the  airplane,  and  commonly 
within  the  fuselage,  so  arranged  as  to  be  rotatable  by  the 
observer  from  his  seat.  Large  airplanes,  of  the  long-distance 
bombing  type,  often  carried  a  navigating  officer,  who,  among 
his  other  duties,  took  gonio  measurements  during  flight,  when 
the  darkness  or  cloudiness  prevented  him  from  recognizing 
his  position  over  the  ground.  It  is  clear  that  this  method  of 
determining  positions  during  flight  by  aerogoniometry,  largely 
developed  under  the  pressure  of  the  world  fight,  will  play  a 


ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  243 

definite  part  in  the  future  development  of  flying,  in  peace  as 
well  as  in  war. 

Improvements  in  Ground  Telegraphy.  In  addition  to  radio 
communication  without  wires,  the  Signal  Corps  employed  in 
our  army,  and  in  common  with  our  Allies,  another  system  of 
so-called  wireless  electric  communication,  which  consists  in 
laying  a  short  length  —  say  75  meters  —  of  insulated  wire  on 
the  surface  of  the  ground  in  a  straight  line  parallel  to  the  front 
trenches,  grounding  each  end  of  this  wire,  usually  by  steel 
spikes  driven  into  the  soil,  and  inserting  in  this  wire,  say  at  the 
middle  of  its  length,  a  relatively  powerful  electric  buzzer  send- 
ing apparatus,  worked  from  a  portable  storage  battery.  Any 
similar  length  of  wire  parallel  to  this,  and  not  more  than  say 
2  or  3  kilometers  distant  therefrom,  with  its  ends  also  grounded, 
and  with  a  delicate  telephone  receiver  inserted  in  it,  enables 
the  buzzer  signals  from  the  distant  sending  wire  to  be  picked 
up  and  read  by  the  listening  operator,  who  may,  perhaps,  be 
located  in  a  dugout  on  the  front  line.  This  communication 
between  two  short  parallel  grounded  wires  depends  upon 
ground  conduction,  magnetic  induction,  and  radio  action,  all 
combined  in  certain  proportions,  that  vary  from  case  to  case. 
The  French  who,  as  a  nation,  are  always  logical  in  thought,  and 
precise  in  language,  have  called  this  telegraphde  par  sol,  abbre- 
viated T.  P.  S.,  or  as  it  has  been  repeated  in  our  army,  *'  ground 
telegraphy." 

Ground  telegraphy  apparatus  has  its  advantages  in  being 
portable  and  well  adapted  to  rapid  infantry  advance  over  a 
short  range.  It  can  be  put  down  and  picked  up  again,  as 
rapidly  as  the  men  can  drive  short  steel  spikes  and  pull  them 
up  again.  The  short  length  of  wire  is  likely  to  escape  de- 
struction from  exploding  shells,  for  a  little  while,  during  an 
advance.  Disadvantages  are,  on  the  other  hand,  that  the  coded 
messages  can  be  read  as  easily  by  foe  as  friend.  As  soon  as 
T.  P.  S.  messages  are  picked  up,  the  terrain  from  which  they 
may  emanate  at  once  invites  the  attention  of  opposing  artillery. 
The  Germans,  who  also  employed  a  T.  P.  S.  system,  resorted 


244  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

to  various  methods  to  hamper  our  use  of  it,  such  as  sending 
powerful  dynamo  currents  through  the  ground  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, in  order  to  deafen  the  listener  and  make  the  signals 
unreadable. 

Experience  with  the  system,  while  greatly  developing  it  in 
the  war,  seems  to  have  indicated  that  the  short-wave  radio-loop 
system  is  much  more  effective  and  advantageous;  so  that  it  is 
doubtful  whether  the  T.  P.  S.  system  will  play  much  part  in  an- 
other war ;  whereas  the  use  of  the  radio  system  is  likely  to  be 
greatly  increased. 

Tree  Antenna.  It  was  discovered  by  the  Chief  Signal  Officer 
in  1904,  that  almost  any  living  tree,  of  suitable  height,  could  be 
made  use  of  as  a  receiving  antenna  for  radio  communication, 
if  a  nail  were  driven  into  the  tree  trunk  at  a  short  elevation 
above  the  ground,  and  radio  apparatus  connected  by  a  wire  to 
this  nail  and  to  ground.  In  other  words,  a  growing  tree  could 
be  made  to  serve  for  radio  reception,  in  place  of  a  tower,  or 
high  pole  and  wire.  Every  tree  is  thus,  in  a  certain  sense, 
a  makeshift  substitute  for  a  radio  antenna.  An  intensive  inves- 
tigation of  this  remarkable  phenomenon,  made  during  the  war 
by  the  Signal  Corps,  showed  that,  with  modern  amplifiers, 
signals  could  easily  be  read  in  America  from  powerful  European 
stations,  like  Nauen  in  Germany,  using  a  tree  and  short  wire 
instead  of  a  mast  and  high  wire.  Moreover,  such  a  tree 
antenna  enabled  goniometric  measurements  to  be  made  of  the 
direction  of  the  incoming  signals,  with  the  aid  of  relatively  small 
rotatable  frame  coils. 

The  investigation  has  shown  that  a  radio  observer  who 
desires  to  receive  long  distance  signals,  as  distinguished  from 
transmitting  them,  need  only  locate  a  suitably  high  tree,  and 
connect  his  amplifying  apparatus  to  it  by  a  wire  preferably 
reaching  up  to  about  two-thirds  of  the  total  height  of  the  tree. 
If  anyone  should  ask  to-day  what  are  the  secrets  which  the 
trees  seem  to  whisper  to  one  another  in  the  woods,  a  scientific, 
as  well  as  a  poetic,  answer,  might  be  that,  in  a  certain  sense, 


ADVANCES  IN  SIGNALLING  245 

they  faintly  whisper  the  secrets  of  all  the  radio  communications 
of  the  world. 

Increase  of  Radio  Precision  and  Range.  It  has  been  esti- 
mated that  at  least  in  two  directions,  the  war  advanced  applied 
science  more  in  four  years  than  perhaps  might  have  been  accom- 
plished in  twenty  or  thirty  years  of  peace;  namely  (i)  in  air- 
ships or  airshipping,  and  (2)  in  radio  communication.  The 
great  number  of  radio  messages,  passing  simultaneously  through 
the  air,  forced  the  necessity  of  learning  to  tune  sharply,  in  order 
to  effect  precise  and  accurate  inter-communication  in  the  Allied 
armies.  Moreover,  the  ranges  of  radio  signalling  by  telephone 
and  by  telegraph  were  greatly  increased.  In  regard  to  radio- 
telegraphy,  the  range  was  increased  until  it  actually  encircles 
the  globe.  It  was  found  during  the  war  that  radio  signals 
emitted  at  Carnarvon,  in  Wales,  were  detected  and  read  suc- 
cessfully at  Sydney,  New  South  Wales,  Australia.  Any  ter- 
restial  globe  will  show  that  the  British  Wales  and  New  South 
Wales  are  nearly  diametrically  opposite.  We  may,  therefore, 
expect  that,  in  the  future,  radio  telegraphy  will  expand  not 
merely  across  oceans,  but  around  the  world  in  all  directions 
simultaneously. 

The  time  that  it  takes  an  electromagnetic  wave  to  run  around 
the  globe,  from  the  radio  station  of  emission  to  an  antipodean 
radio  station  of  reception,  has  not  yet  been  actually  measured ; 
although  the  time  of  transmission  of  radio  signals  has  been 
determined  photographically,  between  Washington,  D.  C,  and 
Paris,  France,  an  overseas  distance  of  6175  kilometers,  as  0.021 
second.  The  wave  travels  very  nearly  as  fast  as  light  in  vacuo; 
i.e.,  300,000  kilometers  per  second.  Since  the  distance  from 
pole  to  pole  is  20,000  kilometers,  the  time  for  any  wave  to 
travel  to  an  antipodean  station  should  not  much  exceed  one- 
fifteenth  of  a  second.  Consequently,  all  parts  of  our  world 
have  shrunk,  during  the  war,  to  something  less  than  one-tenth 
of  a  second  of  utmost  separation  or  remoteness.  How  hope- 
less, in  the  future,  must  such  a  world  be  without  a  league,  nay 


246  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

a  perpetual  Congress,  of  nations,  a  single  system  of  weights 
and  measures,  a  single  trunk  language,  and  a  paramount  inter- 
national law!  Disunity  on  this  planet  has  been  doomed  by 
radio.  Law  and  order  will  necessarily  have  to  be  maintained, 
not  merely  here  and  there,  but  everywhere  on  a  tenth-second 
world.  If  the  great  war  has  brought  death  to,  say,  twenty 
millions  of  persons,  and  horror  and  hate  to  many  more,  yet  it 
has  brought  the  reality  of  ethereal  contact,  and  the  potential 
future  blessings  of  almost  instantaneous  intercommunication, 
through  radio  signalling,  to  all  the  children  of  men. 


XIV 

CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  METALLURGY  TO  VICTORY. 
HENRY  M.  HOWE 

IN  this  story  of  the  contributions  of  metallurgy  to  victory  let 
me  first  tell  of  that  which  was  of  transcendent  importance, 
the  human  element,  and  then  consider  some  of  the  technical 
advances,  of  the  new  alloys,  and  of  the  new  adaptations  of  old 
ones.  In  the  space  available  only  a  few  striking  and  typical 
cases  can  be  given.  To  tell  all  that  was  noble  or  noteworthy 
would  need  a  shelf  rather  than  a  chapter.  I  have  naturally 
written  of  those  events  most  familiar  and  readily  verified. 

The  metallurgist's  great  contributions  were  the  wonderful 
increase  in  the  production  of  ordnance  material,  and  the  equally 
wonderful  spirit  of  cooperation  which  underlay  it.  It  is  not 
simply  that  each  steel-maker  who  knew  how  to  make  steel  fit 
for  cannons  turned  his  manufacture  from  peace  to  war  prod- 
ucts, and  increased  the  scale  of  his  operations,  but  that  the  few, 
the  perilously  few,  who  had  this  knowledge  from  long  and 
costly  experiments,  from  risking  their  solvency,  and  from  every 
kind  of  strenuous  endeavor,  deliberately  gave  it  freely  to  their 
own  competitors,  actual  and  potential.  Only  thus  was  it  pos- 
sible to  create  the  mechanism  which  could  make  the  enormous 
quantities  imperatively  needed.  Each  owner  of  furnaces  whose 
lack  of  special  knowledge  had  till  now  restricted  his  work  to 
the  cruder  kinds  of  steel  must  now  be  taught  how  to  make  the 
best.  Where  this  giving  was  due  to  patriotism  it  was  to  high 
patriotism ;  where  it  was  to  enlightened  self-interest,  how  clear 
was  that  enlightenment !  The  ordnance  officers  who  urged 
this  course  had  indeed  the  strong  argument,  "  What  good  will 

247 


248  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

the  exclusiveness  of  your  knowledge  do  you  if  Germany  wins 
and  takes  everything,  down  to  the  clothes  on  your  back,  ex- 
clusiveness included?  Better  to  tell  your  competitors  your 
secrets  than  to  run  the  risk  of  beggary  and  blows  for  yourselves 
and  dishonor  for  your  women." 

The  case  of  France  is  the  most  striking.  Her  northeastern 
iron  district,  her  most  important,  was  overwhelmed  by  the  first 
German  onrush,  and  she  thus  lost  about  81  per  cent,  of  her  pig- 
iron  capacity  and  63  per  cent,  of  her  steel-making  capacity. 
But  in  about  two  and  one-half  years  she  nearly  tripled  the 
number  of  her  blast  furnaces,  and  increased  that  of  her  open 
hearth  furnaces  by  about  60  per  cent.  During  the  war  she 
increased  her  annual  production  of  rifles  290  fold,  of  machine 
guns  70  fold,  of  150  mm.  shells  225  fold,  and  of  75  mm.  shells 
15  fold,  the  production  of  these  last  reaching  "the  enormous 
number  of  200,000  a  day.  Far  as  these  numbers  are  beyond 
our  mental  grasp,  they  suffice  to  correct  the  impression  that  it 
is  by  necessity  that  France  has  usually  devoted  herself  to  the 
exquisite  perfection  of  her  products  rather  than  to  their  quan- 
tity. Her  gigantic  output  of  munitions,  for  her  own  army, 
for  ours,  and  for  those  of  five  other  Allied  nations  shows  that, 
in  habitually  devoting  herself  most  strikingly  to  products  beyond 
the  skill  of  all  other  people,  she  is  following  choice  and  not 
necessity. 

The  part  played  by  an  illustrious  French  ironmaster,  Dr. 
Schneider,  may  well  be  recorded.  He  controls  about  250,000 
workmen  at  Le  Creusot  and  his  many  other  steel  works,  ship- 
yards, iron  and  coal  mines,  optical  works,  machine  tool  works, 
electrical  works,  Diesel  engine  works,  locomotive  works,  bridge 
and  other  works.  He  supplied  about  three-quarters  of  all  the 
artillery  used  in  the  war  by  the  French,  including  the  Schneider 
2 1 -inch  guns.  He  provided  the  American  Army  with  about 
half  of  its  heavy  artillery,  and  all  of  its  field  artillery,  besides 
sending  much  to  the  Belgian,  Italian,  Roumanian,  Russian  and 
Serbian  Armies,  and  making  enormous  quantities  of  the  most 
varied  war  products,  tanks,  aircraft  and  machine  guns.  This 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  METALLURGY         249 

achievement  is  not  dimmed  by  our  sending  ordnance  of  other 
kinds  to  Europe  on  a  like  scale,  As  early  as  March,  1915,  fore- 
seeing our  eventual  entry  into  the  war,  he  sent  engineers  to 
introduce  into  this  as  well  as  other  countries  the  French  methods 
of  making  shells  and  gun  steel,  thus  lightening  the  work  of  the 
French  commissions  later  sent  to  buy  munitions. 

Like  Dr.  Schneider's  story  is  that  of  the  Perrone  Brothers, 
President  and  Chairman  of  the  Ansaldo  Company  of  Genoa, 
makers  of  ships,  turbines,  locomotives,  electrical  machinery, 
and  like  products. 

Seeing  clearly,  and  long  before  the  war,  the  menace  to  Italy 
in  the  German  peaceful  penetration  all  about  them,  they  pledged 
themselves  beside  their  father's  coffin  to  keep  all  German  inter- 
ests and  influence  away  from  their  great  industry.  When  we 
remember  how  the  treacherous  Teuton  succeeded  in  controlling 
Greece  and  in  causing  Russia's  perfidy  towards  Roumania,  we 
are  hardly  surprised  that  this  strictly  Italian  company,  with  its 
wonderful  possibilities,  could  get  no  orders  from  its  own  gov- 
ernment. Nothing  daunted,  the  management  started  at  the 
beginning  of  the  war  to  turn  its  plants  into  gun-making  estab- 
lishments, and  actually  completed  two  thousand  cannons  before 
it  could  get  an  order.  Then,  when  the  terrible  Caporetto  dis- 
aster came,  the  government  turned  to  it  for  guns,  and  seems  to 
have  been  greatly  surprised  to  learn  that  these  two  thousand 
guns  were  even  then  on  hand  ready  for  immediate  shipment. 
Thereafter,  indeed,  came  orders  in  plenty,  till  the  company, 
now  employing  a  hundred  thousand  men,  had  made  ten  thou- 
sand guns. 

To  the  stupendous  task  of  making  these  was  added  that  of 
financing  the  manufacture,  for,  plenty  as  the  orders  now  were, 
there  was  no  pay.  At  one  time  the  government  owed  the 
Ansaldo  Company  about  one  hundred  and  forty  million  dollars. 
In  order  to  carry  so  great  a  load  a  combination  of  banks  had 
to  be  made. 

In  the  last  two  years  of  the  war  this  company  bought  and 
brought  from  America  in  its  own  steamers  nearly  fifty  million 


250  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

dollars  worth  of  war  material.  Besides  10,000  cannon  it 
made  3000  airplanes,  fifty  million  projectiles,  and  great  nun> 
bers  of  warships,  torpedo  boats,  and  submarines. 

To  illustrate  the  British  metallurgical  contributions  my  story 
may  well  give  some  examples  of  the  work  of  one  of  the  very 
most  interesting  figures  in  modern  metallurgy,  Sir  Robert  Had- 
field,  inventor,  general  of  investigators,  vitalizer  of  societies, 
astonishing  captain-major  of  industry,  and  inexhaustible  foun- 
tain of  enthusiasm  to  all  about  him. 

Of  his  manganese  steel  helmets  I  tell  in  a  later  section. 
Other  important  war  uses  of  this  material  were  found,  of  which 
I  may  not  tell. 

In  the  terrible  autumn  of  1914  he  was  asked  by  the  War 
Office  to  install  several  factories  specially  planned  for  making 
the  high-explosive  shells  of  which  the  Allied  armies  were  in 
such  grave  need.  It  was  characteristic  of  his  exuberant  driv- 
ing power  that  he  built  two  plants  and  had  them  delivering 
finished  shells  in  one  case  in  5  months  and  3  days  and  in  the 
other  case  in  less  than  six  months  after  beginning  to  build. 
He  also  built  new  plants  and  converted  existing  plants,  giving 
them  a  weekly  capacity  of  over  8,000  of  the  important  9.2  in. 
Howitzer  shells.  Before  the  war  a  weekly  production  of  200 
such  shells  was  about  the  normal. 

The  flexibility  with  which  he  adapted  his  works  to  new  and 
very  difficult  products  is  illustrated  by  his  making  3000  gun 
tubes  of  calibers  running  up  to  9.2  inches,  and  3400  trench 
howitzers,  though  he  had  never  made  either  guns  or  howitzers 
before  March,  1917. 

It  was  by  such  feats  that  the  steel  makers  of  Great  Britain 
and  France  enabled  their  battered  armies  to  hold  back  the 
German  flood  till  the  general  ammunition  campaign  became 
effective  later  on. 

Sir  Robert's  firm  made  nearly  2^  million  shells  of  about  20 
different  kinds  for  the  British  Army,  and  I  million  of  37  differ- 
ent kinds  for  their  navy,  including  the  immense  armor  piercing 
shells,  weighing  a  ton  and  a  half  each,  for  the  1 8-inch  monitor 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  METALLURGY          251 

guns.  The  gun  itself  weighs  about  150  tons,  and  can  send  its 
shell  more  than  30  miles.  The  total  Hadfield  production  of 
shells  was  equivalent  to  nearly  30  million  i8-pounders,  and 
their  total  production  of  all  kinds  of  steel  was  about  750,000 
tons,  valued  at  about  $160,000,000. 

American  Contributions.  When  we  entered  the  war  it  was 
wisely  decided  that  our  ordnance  makers  should  concentrate 
their  attention  first  on  making  the  products  with  which  the 
Allied  armies  as  a  whole  were  least  well  supplied;  and  second 
and  chiefly  on  laying  the  foundations  for  an  overwhelming 
production  of  ordnance  for  1919  and  1920,  even  though  this 
meant  deliberately  restricting  the  joint  production  of  the  Allies 
for  1918  to  but  little  beyond  their  bare  necessities. 

The  former  of  these  principles  is  illustrated  by  our  throwing 
the  chief  accent  on  the  manufacture  of  explosives,  propellants, 
and  certain  specific  kinds  of  shells,  because  the  British  and 
French  works  already  had  capacity  sufficient  for  supplying  all 
the  Allied  armies,  including  our  own,  with  most  kinds  of  guns 
throughout  1918,  and  with  most  kinds  of  shells  at  least  till 
June  of  that  year. 

If,  as  seems  probable,  the  German  general  staff  was  allowed 
to  learn  of  the  second  of  these  two  principles,  our  straining 
everything  to  create  establishments  which  could  prepare  the 
vast  quantities  needed  for  an  irresistible  onslaught  in  1919,  it 
would  naturally  do  as  it  did,  stake  all  on  a  series  of  titanic 
efforts  to  break  through  the  Allied  line  at  all  costs  before  our 
help  could  come,  and  when  these  failed  abandon  hope.  If 
Chateau-Thierry  could  happen  in  our  unreadiness,  what  would 
we  be  when  ready?  Why  fight  and  bleed  till  then? 

In  order  to  weigh  fairly  what  we  did  in  gun  making  you  must 
understand  our  shameful  situation  in  having  before  the  war 
only  two  establishments  at  which  great  guns  of  first  rate  quality 
could  be  made.  Think  of  that,  the  richest  country  in  the  world 
in  natural  resources,  in  assets  in  general,  and  in  power  of 
industrial  organization,  with  a  hundred  million  inhabitants 
generous  to  prodigality,  and  only  two  establishments,  public  or 


252  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

private,  which  had  the  knowledge  and  the  tools  needed  for 
making  first-class  cannons.  No  administration  in  the  last 
twenty-five  years  can  escape  part  of  the  blame  for  failing  to 
make  our  people  understand  how  grossly  we  were  unprepared. 

Happily  we  can  turn  from  this  humiliating  ante-bellum  state 
to  a  war  record  of  which  our  children  and  grandchildren  may 
be  proud. 

The  contrast  between  the  two  private  ordnance  works  and 
six  government  arsenals  before  the  war,  and  the  nearly  8000 
establishments  working  on  ordnance  contracts  on  Armistice 
Day,  is  striking  enough  whatever  allowance  we  make  for  the 
great  number  of  ordnance  items  apart  from  guns  at  the  end 
of  the  war,  when  there  were  more  than  100,000  distinct  items 
in  the  American  ordnance  catalogue. 

The  story  of  the  "  Gun  and  Howitzer  Club  "  is  an  interesting 
example  of  the  way  in  which  we  worked.  In  addition  to  our 
•  two  skilled  cannon-makers  there  were  plenty  of  steel  makers 
who  could  readily  be  given  this  great  skill  by  filling  in  the  gaps 
in  their  already  great  knowledge.  They  were  the  material  out 
of  which  we  must  needs  make  gun  makers.  To  this  end  the 
Gun  and  Howitzer  Club  was  formed.  It  was  called  by  its 
Chairman  the  "  Greenhorns'  Club  "  with  the  wise  purpose  of 
impressing  on  the  experienced  steel  makers  and  ordnance  offi- 
cers who  were  its  members  their  ignorance  of  many  essentials 
of  gun-making  procedure.  They  could  already  make  very  good 
steel,  yet  not  steel  good  enough  for  guns.  Moreover,  in  their 
long  and  very  intelligent  practice  many  of  them  had  developed 
expedients  which  would  be  of  help  in  hastening  and  cheapening 
even  the  practice  of  the  best  gun-steel  makers. 

The  purpose  of  the  club  was  thus  to  pool  the  knowledge  of 
the  actual  and  potential  gun  makers,  which  meant  to  replace 
their  firmly  established  policy  of  secrecy  with  its  opposite.  In 
order  that  so  complete  a  reversal  of  trade  policy  should  even 
be  considered,  it  must  be  proposed  by  men  whom  the  trade 
held  not  only  in  perfect  confidence  for  their  uprightness  and 
good  sense,  but  also  in  affection.  Such  were  the  men  who  led 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  METALLURGY         253 

the  difficult  but  absolutely  necessary  work  of  this  club, —  Mr. 
A.  A.  Stevenson,  its  Chairman,  and  Colonel  William  P.  Barba 
of  the  Ordnance  Department,  himself  a  most  accomplished 
maker  of  guns  and  gun  steel. 

So  wisely  and  so  energetically  was  this  pooling  pressed  that 
by  August,  1918,  twenty-one  of  the  most  capable  makers  of 
gun  steel  and  of  gun  forgings,  indeed  all  of  those  supplying 
either  the  army  or  the  navy,  were  brought  into  the  closest  re- 
lations, so  that  at  the  frequent  meetings  of  the  club  at  the 
various  gun  works  its  members  interchanged  even  the  most 
secret  information  without  reserve. 

The  value  of  this  organization,  loose  as  it  was,  may  be  in- 
ferred in  a  rough  way  from  a  comparison  of  our  trifling  pro- 
duction of  55  finished  guns  per  annum  before  1917,  with 
our  production  in  October,  1918,  at  the  rate  of  24,000  *  sets 
of  forgings  for  guns  between  3-inches  and  9-5-inches  in 
diameter,  though  three  of  the  gun  factories  had  not  yet  com- 
pleted their  machine-tool  equipment. 

This  substitution  of  cooperation  for  segregation  was  of  such 
great  and  clear  benefit  to  all  that  the  Greenhorns'  Club  is  still 
working  with  the  Ordnance  Departments  of  both  army  and 
navy,  to  design  their  new  equipment  in  such  a  way  that  its 
production  may  be  quickly  expanded  to  enormous  dimensions 
when  the  next  demand  comes. 

Two  cases  of  very  rapid  construction  of  gun  factories  de- 
serve mention.  The  Taeony  gun  plant,  which  cost  $3,000,000, 
was  built  in  7  months,  between  October  nth,  1917,  and  May 
1 5th,  1918,  in  spite  of  the  extraordinarily  severe  winter.  On 
June  29th,  1918,  its  first  carload  of  gun  forgings  was  ac- 
cepted and  shipped,  eight  and  one-half  months  after  breaking 
ground. 

The  new  works  of  American  Brake  Shoe  and  Foundry  Com- 
pany began  shipping  howitzers  seven  months  after  breaking 
ground. 

At  the  end  of  the  war  we  were  making  gun  bodies  ready  for 

1  America's  Munitions,  1917-1918,  Benedict  Crowell,  pp.  43-44. 


254  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

•mounting  at  the  rate  of  832  per  month,  while  England  was 
making  them  at  the  rate  of  802  and  France  at  the  rate  of  1138 
per  month ;  and  we  were  making  machine  guns  and  automatic 
rifles  nearly  thrice  as  fast  as  England  and  more  than  twice  as 
fast  as  France. 

How  rapidly  we  increased  our  production  of  ammunition  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  about  one-quarter  of  all  the  high-ex- 
plosive 75-mm.  shells,  and  nearly  40  per  cent,  of  all  the  adapters 
and  boosters  for  them  which  we  machined  up  to  November 
ist,  1918,  passed  inspection  in  October,  1918. 

By  the  end  of  the  war  we  had  at  least  42,000  workmen  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  great  guns,  including  their  car- 
riages and  fire-control  apparatus.  Though,  because  of  our 
initial  lack  of  preparation,  our  Army  Ordnance  Department 
sold  to  our  allies  much  less  than  half  the  ordnance  that  it 
bought  from  them,  yet  our  country  sold  them  five  dollars'  worth 
of  ordnance  and  materials  for  conversion  into  ordnance  and 
munitions  for  every  dollar's  worth  we  bought  from  them.  We 
may  well  consider  how  far  the  resulting  adverse  trade  balance 
of  our  allies  represents  a  normal  debt,  and  how  far  a  pound 
of  flesh  from  next  the  heart.  Before  our  belated  entry  into 
the  war  we  knew  that  they  needed  these  arms  to  defend  us 
as  well  as  themselves  from  annihilation.  If  I  arm  a  watchman 
to  defend  both  himself  and  me,  which  is  the  debtor?  Should 
he  alone  pay  for  the  arms  which  he  uses  in  our  common  de- 
fense, while  I  remain  at  home  in  supposed  safety? 

Simplification  of  Cannon  Making.  The  manufacture  of 
cannons  was  materially  hastened  and  their  quality  improved 
at  the  same  time  by  decreasing  greatly  the  amount  of  forging 
which  they  undergo.  This  seems  at  first  a  most  uninteresting 
and  purely  administrative  measure,  but  on  examination  it  turns 
out  to  be  due  to  basic  physical  considerations  of  very  great 
interest,  which  might  well  escape  attention.  We  ask  at  once 
"  Why  are  cannons  forged  at  all  ?  Why  do  we  follow  the 
tedious  and  expensive  plan  of  casting  the  molten  steel  in  a 
very  large  ingot,  as  the  crude  mass  into  which  the  steel  is  first 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  METALLURGY          255 

cast  is  called,  with  a  cross  section  about  four  times  that  of  the 
cannon  itself,  and  then  forge  it  down  with  extremely  costly 
presses  and  with  a  very  great  outlay  of  energy,  into  its  final 
shape?  Why  do  we  not  proceed  as  in  making  a  statue,  and 
cast  the  molten  metal  directly  into  a  cannon  of  the  exact  size 
and  shape  in  which  it  will  be  used  ?  In  short,  why  are  cannons 
forgings  instead  of  being  simply  castings  ?  " 

Partly  from  copying  blindly  the  procedure  which  was  neces- 
sary when  cannons  were  not  cast  from  the  molten  as  a  single 
piece  of  steel,  but  were  built  up  from  a  large  number  of 
lumps  of  wrought  iron,  which  had  to  undergo  a  great  amount 
of  forging  in  order  to  weld  them  together.  Apart  from  this 
minor  and  valid  reason  is  that  the  kneading  under  the  hy- 
draulic press  closes  up  any  small  cavities  which  form  in  the 
solidification  of  the  molten  mass.  But  the  chief  motive  is 
that  this  kneading  may  lessen  the  extreme  heterogeneousness 
which  such  a  cast  mass  necessarily  has,  as  I  will  now  show. 

Solidification  is  an  extremely  complex  process  of  differentia- 
tion. This  differentiation  is  familiar,  though  not  by  so  long 
a  name,  to  every  country  bred  boy,  who  knows  that  if  a  vessel- 
ful  of  cider  is  frozen  half  way  through,  the  half  which  re- 
mains unfrozen,  surrounded  by  the  frozen  part  as  by  a  jacket 
of  ice,  is  far  more  stimulating  and  joyous  than  the  original 
fermented  juice  of  Eve's  fruit.  There  is  no  more  alcohol 
present  in  the  mass  taken  as  a  whole  than  when  we  started, 
but  that  which  is  present  has  been  concentrated  in  the  un- 
frozen "  mother  liquor,"  because  of  this  differentiation  in 
freezing.  The  earliest  frozen  layers  in  the  act  of  freezing  re- 
ject part  of  their  alcohol  content  and  thus  concentrate  it  in  the 
mother  liquor. 

A  parallel  process  occurs  in  the  solidification  of  a  steel 
ingot.  The  carbon  as  well  as  the  harmful  impurities,  phos- 
phorus and  sulphur,  which  we  have  failed  to  remove  com- 
pletely in  the  purification  of  the  steel,  become  concentrated 
progressively  during  solidification  in  the  remaining  molten 
metal.  Each  successive  layer  of  solid  steel,  deposited  from 


256  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

the  still  molten  interior  upon  the  already  solid  white-hot  jacket 
of  steel  which  encases  it,  becomes  thus  richer  in  carbon,  phos- 
phorus, and  sulphur  than  the  preceding  layer,  so  that  the  con- 
tent of  these  elements  increases  progressively  from  the  skin 
to  the  axis  of  the  completely  solidified  ingot. 

But  this  is  not  the  worst  of  it.  The  steel  solidifies  not  in 
successive  layers  like  the  leaves  of  a  gigantic  onion,  but  rather 
in  great  columnar  or  pine-tree  crystals  protruding  out  at  any 
given  moment  into  the  still  molten  interior.  As  solidification 
proceeds  these  trees  grow  not  only  at  their  tips  but  also  at  the 
ends  of  their  tree-like  branches,  which  thus  in  time  inter- 
lace, and  thus  landlock  part  of  the  enriched  mother  liquor. 
The  result  is  that,  when  solidification  is  complete,  the  ingot 
as  a  whole  has  a  dendritic  structure,  with  these  elements  con- 
centrated in  part  between  the  trunks  and  branches  of  the  pine 
trees,  and  in  part  concentrated  progressively  towards  the  axis 
of  the  ingot,  or  more  strictly  towards  the  last  freezing  part. 
This  structure  may  be  likened  to  the  veining  of  marble.  In 
each  case  the  mass  is  substantially  free  from  cavities,  and  even 
from  porosity,  but  it  is  coarsely  heterogeneous. 

The  carbon  and  phosphorus  which  are  thus  concentrated 
embrittle  the  metal  locally,  giving  rise  to  brittle  regions  scat- 
tered through  the  mass,  somewhat  like  brittle  links  in  an  other- 
wise ductile  chain,  lessening  the  resistance  of  the  whole  to 
shock. 

The  main  purpose  of  forging  is  to  lessen  this  heterogeneous- 
ness  by  a  species  of  kneading  which  mixes  up  the  various 
parts,  and  in  particular  lessens  the  distances  which  diffusion 
has  to  cover  in  order  to  give  uniformity.  Kneading  thus  being 
a  good  thing,  give  us  plenty  of  it.  It  was  most  readily  given 
by  reducing  the  cross  section  of  the  ingot  under  the  hydraulic 
press,  and  simultaneously  lengthening  it.  But  in  order  that 
this  cross  section  should  thus  be  reduced  greatly  it  must  ini- 
tially be  much  greater  than  that  of  the  finished  piece,  formerly 
four  times  as  great.  In  trade  language,  there  was  a  reduction 
of  four  to  one.  Even  before  the  war  many  of  us  insisted 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  METALLURGY         257 

that  this  was  exaggerating  the  disease  in  order  to  use  more 
medicine  for  its  cure ;  that  to  give  the  ingot  this  great  cross  sec- 
tion was  to  retard  the  solidification  greatly,  and  thus  to  in- 
crease the  differentiation  which  it  is  the  purpose  of  forging 
to  palliate.  We  insisted  that  a  reduction  of  four  to  one  was 
excessive. 

Fortunately  the  needs  of  the  war  gained  us  a  hearing.  We 
needed  cannons,  and  as  quickly  as  possible.  Clearly  a  re- 
duction of  two  to  one  takes  only  half  as  long  as  a  reduction  of 
four  to  one.  This  consideration,  backed  up  by  the  assurances 
of  the  most  intelligent  experts  that  the  faster  solidification  of 
the  smaller  ingots  would  result  in  a  better  product,  at  last  led 
to  casting  the  steel  in  much  smaller  ingots,  calling  for  a  re- 
duction of  only  two  to  one  instead  of  four  to  one.  This  is 
typical  of  a  whole  class  of  cases  in  which  the  necessities  of 
war  induced  the  authorities  to  depart  from  bad  practices  which 
had  rested  on  superstition  or  ignorance. 

Hadfield's  Manganese  Steel  for  Helmets.  In  using  Had- 
field's  manganese  steel,  an  alloy  of  iron  with  about  12  per  cent, 
of  manganese  and  1.25  per  cent,  of  carbon,  for  the  helmets  of 
the  American  and  British  Armies,  the  idiosyncrasies  of  a  very 
remarkable  material  were  utilized  in  a  striking  way.  Even 
in  our  early  attempts  to  use  it,  we  saw  some  decades  ago  that, 
in  addition  to  its  extraordinary  combination  of  hardness  with 
ductility,  it  had  some  obscure  peculiarity  which  prevented  our 
foretelling  with  confidence  whether  it  would  fit  any  new  serv- 
ice proposed.  Shortly  before  the  war  we  found  that  this 
peculiarity  consisted,  at  least  in  part,  in  its  increasing  greatly  in 
hardness  on  even  slight  plastic  deformation,  that  is  on  being 
bent,  twisted,  compressed,  lengthened,  or  otherwise  forced  be- 
yond its  elastic  limit,  so  that  it  takes  permanent  set.  This 
plastic  deformation  seems  to  precipitate  an  overdue  allotropic 
change  of  the  iron  itself,  from  the  gamma  or  non-magnetic 
ductile  state  to  the  beta  or  hard  brittle  state,  given  to  common 
steel  by  rapid  cooling  from  above  a  red  heat.  Thus  a  rail 
of  manganese  steel  when  first  laid  in  the  track  consists 


258  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

throughout  of  the  ductile  and  rather  soft  gamma  iron.  The 
pressure  of  the  passing  wheels  soon  strains  a  very  thin  layer 
on  the  top  of  the  rail  beyond  its  elastic  limit,  and  thus  shifts 
it  to  the  hard  beta  state,  which  because  of  its  hardness  resists 
the  abrasion  of  the  wheels,  while  its  integral  union  with  the 
ductile  gamma  body  of  the  rail  prevents  it  from  breaking 
readily. 

A  helmet  is  pressed  into  shape  from  a  flat  sheet.  In  thus 
pressing  a  helmet  of  manganese  steel  the  incidental  plastic 
deformation  transfers  enough  iron  from  the  gamma  to  the 
hard  beta  state  to  make  the  mass  hard  and  rigid,  while  leav- 
ing enough  ductile  gamma  iron  to  prevent  shattering  under  the 
impact  of  the  bullet,  and  the  wounding  of  the  wearer  by  fly- 
ing fragments.  Hence  this  alloy,  in  spite  of  its  low  ballistic 
resistance  when  in  the  form  of  heavy  ship's  armor,  has  great 
ballistic  resistance  when  pressed  into  helmets.  Many  millions 
of  these  manganese  steel  helmets  were  worn  by  the  soldiers  of 
the  American  and  British  Armies.  Indeed  the  manganese  steel 
made  for  this  purpose  by  the  Hadfield  firm  alone  represented 
nearly  four  million  helmets.  They  are  incomparably  more 
resistant  than  the  French  helmets,  which  strangely  enough 
were  made  of  a  soft  weak  steel.  The  German  helmet  was 
about  12  per  cent,  thicker  and  about  half  heavier  than  the 
manganese  steel  ones,  weighing  37  ounces  against  the  former's 
25l/2-  On  the  other  hand  it  protects  the  back  of  the  head  and 
neck  much  better. 

A  helmet  must  neither  perforate,  splinter,  nor  indent  deeply. 
Its  wearer  may  be  killed  by  the  helmet's  indenting  so  deeply 
as  to  fracture  his  skull  sand-bagwise,  even  though  it  is  not 
actually  perforated  by  the  bullet. 

Inestimable  as  was  the  service  rendered  by  this  helmet,  a 
fair  weighing  of  its  merits  and  defects  against  those  of  the 
German  helmet,  and  of  the  material  and  design  developed  in 
the  experiments  carried  out  by  the  American  Army  Ordnance 
Department  jointly  with  the  Enginering  Division  of  the  Na- 
tional Research  Council,  remains  to  be  made. 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  METALLURGY          259 

The  Use  of  Cast  Iron  for  Bursting  Shells.  With  the  steel 
works  representing  more  than  60  per  cent,  of  the  French  steel 
production  overwhelmed  by  the  first  German  onrush,  the  French 
wisely  adopted  cast  iron  as  one  of  the  materials  for  their  burst- 
ing shells,  thus  releasing  their  small  remaining  steel  produc- 
tion for  high-explosive  shells,  cannon,  and  other  imperatively 
needed  ordnance.  Fortunately,  the  manufacture  of  these  cast 
iron  bursting  shells  had  been  developed  at  the  Douai  arsenal 
before  the  war. 

Among  the  many  advantages  of  this  step  were  that  the  mak- 
ing of  these  cast  iron  shells  could  be  begun  immediately  at  most 
of  the  numberless  iron  foundries  scattered  all  over  the  country; 
that  additional  foundries  for  making  them  could  be  built  far 
faster  than  steel  works  could ;  that  the  processes  of  production 
are  much  simpler  than  the  steel  making  processes  chiefly  be- 
cause cast  iron  is  very  much  more  fusible  than  steel;  that  the 
cast  iron  shells  can  be  made  from  relatively  impure  and  very 
abundant  raw  materials,  thus  leaving  the  scanty  supply  of  the 
best  materials  for  steel-making;  that  they  are  far  cheaper 
than  steel  shells ;  and  that  their  manufacture  calls  for  far  less 
fuel. 

Ordnance  engineers  have  been  reluctant  to  use  so  brittle  a 
material  for  shells,  lest  they  break  in  the  gun  and  thus  cause  it 
to  burst.  Even  a  thread  left  in-  the  barrel  of  a  revolver  in 
cleaning  it  will  lead  to  its  bursting  when  next  fired.  But  with 
the  Germans  at  the  Marne  it  was  imperative  to  increase  the 
shell  production  by  all  possible  means,  even  if  this  led  to  the 
occasional  bursting  of  a  gun.  Better  one  gun  crew  in  a  hun- 
dred blown  to  shreds  then  Paris  taken. 

The  risk  of  gun-bursting  is  probably  less  than  it  seems  at 
first,  in  view  of  the  general  use  of  cast  iron  in  this  country 
for  carwheels,  even  those  of  passenger  coaches  on  express 
trains,  and  of  the  insignificant  number  of  the  accidents  caused 
by  breakages,  in  spite  of  the  severe  shock  to  each  wheel  on 
passing  each  crossing  at  full  speed.  For  that  matter,  cast 
iron  shells  have  been  used  very  extensively  here  for  target 


26o  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

practice,  and  they  should  be  no  more  likely  to  explode  in  a 
gun  aimed  at  a  German  than  in  one  aimed  at  a  board. 

Light  High-Conductivity  Alloys  for  Air-Craft  Engines. 
Because  the  weight  of  an  engine  which  is  to  develop  a  given 
quantity  of  energy  is  inversely  as  its  piston-speed,  the  little 
aircraft  engines  make  an  extremely  great  number  of  revolu- 
tions per  minute.  This,  or  more  generally  the  lightness  of  the 
engines  for  the  energy  they  develop,  leads  to  an  extremely 
great  internal  heat  development  per  unit  of  weight,  and  hence 
of  thermal  capacity,  and  hence  finally  to  a  tendency  of  the 
engines  to  overheat.  To  meet  this  tendency  these  engines 
need  material  of  great  thermal  conductivity  as  well  as  strength, 
so  that  the  heat  developed  in  them  may  escape  readily,  and 
not  heat  them  so  hot  as  to  crack  the  lubricating  oil,  and  thus 
choke  them  with  carbon.  Hence  the  use  of  the  light  high- 
conductivity  copper-aluminum  alloys  of  the  duralumin  class. 
Their  chief  value  here  lies  in  their  combination  of  great  thermal 
conductivity  with  immunity  towards  the  embrittlement  which 
steel  suffers  at  about  300  C,  rather  than  in  their  lightness,  for 
none  of  them  is  as  strong  as  steel  per  unit  of  weight. 

These  alloys  were  improved  greatly  during  the  war.  The 
discovery  of  the  best  conditions  for  melting,  alloying,  and 
casting  made  it  possible  to  increase  the  tensile  strength  required 
in  the  reception  tests  by  nearly  forty  per  cent.  The  regula- 
tion of  the  manufacture  at  the  works  of  the  Aluminum  Cast- 
ings Company  was  so  close  that  only  thirty  castings  in  about 
ninety  thousand  were  rejected,  or  at  the  rate  of  one  in  three 
thousand. 

Stainless  Steel  for  the  Valves  of  Aircraft  Engines.  The 
tendency  to  overheat  which  we  have  just  considered  is  ex- 
aggerated in  the  valves,  because  they  are  surrounded  on  all 
sides  by  the  hot  gases,  and  have  so  little  chance  to  get  rid  of 
their  heat  by  conduction  that  their  temperature  is  said  to  reach 
1000  degrees  Centigrade  (1832  F.),  or  above  the  melting  point 
of  these  copper  aluminum  alloys.  At  this  temperature  most 
alloys  of  iron  oxidize  very  rapidly.  To  meet  these  very  try- 


CONTRIBUTIONS  OF  METALLURGY         261 

ing  conditions  an  iron  alloy  called  *'  stainless  steel,"  of  re- 
markable inertness  and  hence  resistance  to  oxidation,  was  used. 
It  contains  about  13  per  cent,  of  chromium.  Before  the  war 
its  resistance  to  oxidation,  its  "  rustlessness,"  led  to  its  rapidly 
increasing  use  for  cutlery. 


THE  ROLE  OF 

BIOLOGY  AND  MEDICINE 

IN  THE  WAR 


XV 

THE  FOOD  PROBLEM 
VERNON  KELLOGG 

IN  his  great  book  on  "  The  Future  of  War,"  first  published 
about  thirty  years  ago,  Jean  Bloch,  the  Polish  economist, 
said  epigrammatically :     Famine,  not  fighting;  that  is  the  fu- 
ture of  war. 

With  due  allowance  for  the  combination  of  half  truth  and 
half  exaggeration,  characteristic  of  epigrams,  this  prophecy 
of  Bloch's  of  thirty  years  ago  was  fairly  realized  in  the  World 
War.  There  was,  to  be  sure,  plenty  of  fighting  in  the  war, 
but  famine  and  the  threat  of  famine  played  a  very  important 
part  in  its  course  and  its  decision.  The  food  problem  was  al- 
most dominatingly  insistent  among  the  war-problems  which 
all  the  major  governments  involved  in  the  struggle  had  to 
face.  The  great  diversion  of  man-power  from  the  fields  to 
the  trenches  and  war-factories  with  the  consequent  lessening 
of  food  production,  and  an  actual  needed  increase  in  consump- 
tion because  of  the  transference  of  men  and  women  from 
sedentary  occupations  to  vigorous  physical  and  fuel-burning 
activity,  the  transfer  of  horses  and  work-stock  from  the  farms 
to  the  cavalry  and  transport  service  of  the  armies,  the  cur- 
tailed import  of  fertilizers,  and  the  occasional  actual  destruc- 
tion of  food  stocks  during  the  military  operations  together  with 
the  military  occupation  and  devastation  of  considerable  areas 
of  farm  lands,  all  resulted  in  producing  a  food  problem  of 
great  difficulty  of  solution.  It  meant  a  calling  on  external  food 
supplies,  and  this  at  a  time  of  unusual  difficulties  of  transpor- 
tation, to  a  degree  never  before  dreamed  of,  and  it  meant  a 

265 


266  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

voluntary  or  controlled  modification  of  food  habits  and  re- 
pression of  food  use  by  whole  peoples  beyond  anything  ever 
before  attempted. 

Dr.  H.  P.  Armsby  has  recently  most  truthfully  declared 
("Yale  Review,"  January,  1920):  "The  experiences  of  the 
great  war  have  forced  us  to  realize  as  never  before  that  the 
maintenance  of  the  food  supply  is  the  basal  problem  of  civili- 
zation. Before  commerce  or  manufacturing  or  mining  can  be 
carried  on  —  before  science  or  art  or  religion  can  flourish  — 
man  must  be  fed.  A  starving  world  cannot  be  made  safe 
for  democracy.  Any  rational  program  of  national  or  inter- 
national preparedness,  not  only  for  possible  future  war  but 
especially  for  the  hoped  for  victories  of  peace,  must  have  as 
its  prime  element  the  maintenance  of  an  abundant  food  sup- 
ply at  prices  which  shall  adequately  reward  the  producer  and 
not  unduly  tax  the  consumer." 

/  There  is  then  an  ever-existent  great  national  and  interna- 
'•  tional  food  problem:  a  problem  that  demands  consideration 
^  in  peace-time  as  well  as  war-time,  although  its  insistence  in 
war-time  is  enormously  enhanced  and  made  visible  to  every 
one.  )  In  peace-time  not  many  of  us  notice  it,  except  in  so  far 
as  if  reveals  itself  by  certain  indications  to  our  purses.  Just 
now  it  is  particularly  a  problem  of  the  household  budget :  suf- 
ficient food  exists,  which  may  not  be  the  case  in  war-time, 
but  it  costs  so  much  that  most  of  us  are  constantly  worried  by 
the  effort  to  obtain  it.  So  we  appeal  to  economists  for  a  so- 
lution of  the  problem.  And  these  men  in  turn  appeal  to 
science  to  see  if  this  all-resourceful  last  resort  can  do  anything 
to  help  in  the  emergency.  It  therefore  devolves  on  scientific 
food  and  nutrition  experts,  on  men  versed  in  scientific  methods 
of  food  production  and  scientific  guidance  to  wise  and 
economical  food  use,  to  tell  what  they  already  know,  and  to 
try  to  know  more,  for  the  sake  of  the  national  well-being  and 
the  national  strength.  For  national  well-being  depends  largely 
on  a  sufficient  and  available  food  supply,  and  national  strength 
depends  largely  on  national  well-being. 


THE  FOOD  PROBLEM  267 

In  the  "  relief  of  Belgium,"  as  carried  out  by  Mr.  Hoover's 
Commission,  we  introduced  into  occupied  Belgium  and  France, 
in  the  four  years  of  the  work,  about  five  million  tons  of  food 
stuffs  of  a  value,  at  wholesale  prices  and  with  much  unpaid 
service,  of  seven  hundred  million  dollars.  This  food  was  se- 
lected with  much  regard  to  economy  of  purchase,  ease  of 
handling,  keeping  qualities,  and,  especially,  concentration  of 
food  value  in  relation  to  weight  and  mass.  The  problem  of 
transportation,  during  the  period  of  the  importations,  was 
made  so  serious  by  the  tremendous  demand  on  shipping  and 
the  constant  loss  of  vessels  by  submarines,  that  no  waste  stuff, 
possibly  avoidable,  could  be  carried. 

The  Belgian  importations  consisted  chiefly  of  wheat  and 
flour,  dried  beans  and  peas,  animal  and  vegetable  fats,  con- 
densed milk  and  sugar.  These  staples,  with  their  small  con- 
tent of  water  and  high  nutritive  value,  best  met  the  needs  of 
the  situation.  Some  meat,  for  protein  needs,  was  available 
in  the  country,  as  were  also  some  green  vegetables  and  fruit. 
Out  of  these  native  and  imported  foodstuffs  a  ration,  varying 
in  character  somewhat  with  season,  and  in  amount  with  the 
varying  situation  as  to  money,  actual  food  obtainable  and  con- 
ditions of  transportation,  was  determined,  and  on  it  a  great 
majority  of  the  people  lived.  The  wealthier  ones  could  add 
to  it  by  purchase  of  the  limited  native  production.  The  poorer 
ones,  those  dependent  on  the  American  Relief  Commission  and 
the  native  relief  organization  for  actual  charity,  had  practically 
nothing  else.  At  the  end  of  the  war  practically  one-half  of 
the  imprisoned  Belgian  and  French  population  jof  nearly  ten 
million  people  was  living  wholly  or  partly  on  charity.  At  one 
time  actually  one-half  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  great  city  of 
Antwerp  was  in  the  daily  soup  and  bread  lines. 

Now  this  daily  ration  at  no  time  was  of  character  to  produce 
much  over  two  thousand  calories.  Three  thousand,  and  even 
a  fraction  more,  are  considered  by  most  physiologists  to  be  the 
desirable  minimum  for  the  average  man  at  reasonable  work. 
Yet  these  Belgians  and  French  maintained  life,  and  most  of 


268  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

them  a  fair  health,  on  much  less  than  three  thousand  calories 
a  day.  To  be  sure,  most  of  them  did  no  heavy  work,  and 
many  of  them  no  work  at  all.  There  was  little  work  to  do, 
except  for  the  Germans,  and  they  would  not  do  that.  For 
the  few  actual  heavy  workers,  the  men  in  the  coal  mines,  a 
supplement  to  the  regular  ration  was  given. 

This  ration  also  had  a  very  low  protein  content  as  com- 
pared with  the  usually  recommended  one.  It  was  only  rarely 
that  the  protein  food  ran  to  as  much  as  50  grams :  it  was  usually 
nearer  35  grams.  The  textbook  rations  usually  call  for  at  least 
100  grams. 

The  lesson  of  the  great  nutrition  experiment  in  Belgium  is 
that  a  considerably  lower  ration  than  the  one  ordinarily  recom- 
mended by  physiologists  can  keep  a  people  alive  and  most  of 
them  in  fair  health  for  a  considerable  period  of  time.  Two 
elements  in  the  experiment  were  unusual,  namely,  the  number 
of  subjects  and  the  duration  of  it. .  On  the  other  hand,  the  re- 
sults of  the  experiment  can  be  expressed  only  in  large  and 
general  terms. 

By  the  time  America  came  into  the  war  the  demands  of  the 
Allies  and  European  neutrals  for  importations  of  food  had 
become  so  enormous,  and  the  submarine  warfare  had  so  re- 
stricted the  shipping  available  and  made  it  necessary  to  limit  its 
use  to  the  shortest  sea  lanes,  thus  cutting  out  possibilities  of 
bringing  food  from  such  distant  sources  as  Australia,  and 
concentrating  the  demand  on  North  and  South  America,  that 
the  war  food  problem  was  more  serious  than  ever.  The  al- 
ready difficult  transportation  situation  was  made  worse  by 
America's  need  for  tonnage  for  the  sending  overseas  of  her 
great  army  and  its  equipment  in  munitions,  clothing  and  food. 
It  therefore  became  evident  that  the  use  of  food  by  the  Euro- 
pean Allies  and  neutrals  would  have  to  be  repressed  to  the 
lowest  safe  amount.  What  was  this  amount  for  each  country  ? 

This  was  a  problem  for  the  English,  French,  and  Italian 
governmental  food  controllers  and  for  the  American  food  ad- 
ministrator to  decide.  Theoretically  a  great  pooling  of  Ameri- 


THE  FOOD  PROBLEM  269 

can  and  Allied  food  supplies  was  made  with  a  common  at- 
tempt to  place  consumption  at  the  lowest  safe  figure.  England 
and  France  and  Italy  intensified  their  food  control,  restricting 
sales  by  dealers,  using  purchasing  or  ration  cards,  limiting  the 
bills  of  fare  in  public  eating  places,  and  generally  putting  food 
use  on  a  basis  of  governmental  permission;  while  America, 
following  a  method  presumably  more  in  harmony  with  the 
spirit  of  our  people,  instituted  under  the  stimulus  and  guidance 
of  Food  Administrator  Hoover  a  nation-wide  campaign  of 
voluntary  food-saving.  This  was  reenforced  by  a  considerable 
degree  of  official  regulation  of  food  manufacturers  and  whole- 
salers, but  no  attempt  was  authorized  by  Congress,  in  its  food 
control  act,  to  regulate  the  sales  by  retailers  or  the  actual 
food  use  by  individuals.  As  a  result  of  a  considerable  in- 
crease in  American  production  and  the  radical  food-saving  of 
the  people,  we  were  able  to  export  to  Europe  during  our  first 
year  after  entering  the  war  (April  i,  1917  to  April  i,  1918) 
fifteen  billion  pounds  of  food,  an  increase  of  more  than  200 
per  cent,  over  the  annual  average  of  late  pre-war  years. 

The  theoretical  pooling  of  the  available  Allied  and  Ameri- 
can food  supplies  made  necessary  the  determination  of  fair 
allocations  from  the  American  surplus  to  each  of  the  major  Al- 
lied countries  as  well  as  to  the  European  neutrals  needing 
imports,  the  share  of  each  to  be  based  on  the  deficit  between 
native  production  and  a  fair  minimum  consumption.  This 
need  of  a  proper  division  among  needy  countries  led  to  the 
formation  of  various  bodies  for  effecting  the  determinations, 
of  which  bodies  one,  known  as  the  Inter-Allied  Scientific  Food 
Commission,  was  composed  of  representative  food  and  nutri- 
tion experts  from  America,  Great  Britain,  France,  Italy,  and 
Belgium,  and  had  the  responsibility  for  providing  the  food 
executives  of  America  and  the  Allies  with  any  scientific  knowl- 
edge that  might  be  advantageously  used  in  making  the  de- 
termination of  the  food  allocations. 

This  Commission  held  meetings  at  various  times  in  1918  and 
1919  in  London,  Paris,  Rome,  and  Brussels.  One  of  its  first 


270  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

attempts  was  to  reach  an  agreement  on  certain  fundamental 
units  and  co-efficients  necessary  for  use  in  determining  the 
food  needs  of  a  large  mixed  population. 

It  is  familiar  knowledge  that  men  engaged  in  different  kinds 
of  work,  who  might  be  classed  as  non-workers,  light-workers, 
and  heavy-workers,  and  women  and  children,  do  not  all  de- 
mand rations  of  the  same  value  in  calories.  The  Commission 
agreed  that  if  the  average  man,  doing  medium  work,  is  taken 
as  the  unit,  then  a  child  up  to  6  years  should  have  .5  of  this 
ration,  from  6  to  10  years,  .7,  from  10  to  14  years,  .83,  and 
girls  above  14  years  and  women,  .83. 

In  order  to  apply  these  co-efficients  of  conversion  of  all  mem- 
bers of  the  population  into  "  average  men,"  so  as  to  obtain  the 
figure  of  the  total  quantity  of  food  stuffs  necessary  for  a 
given  population,  it  is  necessary  to  know  the  proportionate 
occurrence  in  the  population  of  children,  women  and  men. 
If  the  food  necessary  for  a  population  entirely  composed  of 
average  men  be  represented  by  the  unit  j,  then,  on  the  basis 
of  the  distribution  of  men,  women,  and  children  in  America 
and  the  Allied  countries,  England  should  receive  .835,  France, 
.845,  Italy,  .826,  and  America,  .84.  That  is  to  say,  every  100 
individuals  in  England,  taken  in  the  proportions  in  which  the 
different  kinds  of  persons  exist  in  the  population,  will  be 
equivalent  for  feeding  purposes  to  83.5  average  man. 

The  advisable  daily  ration  for  an  average  man  was  fixed  by 
the  Commission  as  one  having  a  value  of  3300  gross  calories. 
By  gross  calories  is  meant  the  energy  value  of  the  foods  as  they 
are  bought  in  the  market.  It  was  agreed  that  a  reduction  in 
10  per  cent,  of  this  amount  could  be  supported  for  a  consider- 
able time  without  injury  to  health. 

With  regard  to  the  necessary  protein  content  in  a  ration  of 
this  calorific  value  and  made  up  of  a  number  of  different  food 
stuffs  it  was  agreed  that  such  a  ration  would  almost  inevitably 
contain  enough  protein  matter  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  in- 
dividual. At  the  same  time  the  Commission  records  its  belief 
that  although  meat  is  not  a  physiological  necessity  and  hence 


THE  FOOD  PROBLEM  271 

need  not  of  necessity  compose  a  part  of  this  ration,  and  its 
place  can  be  supplied  by  various  other  animal  protein,  such  as 
milk,  cheese,  and  eggs,  and  also  partly  by  vegetable  proteins, 
nevertheless,  the  dietary  habits  of  the  nations  of  Western 
Europe  being  what  they  are,  it  is  highly  desirable  to  include  a 
certain  proportion  of  meat  in  the  ration  of  any  people  long 
accustomed  to  its  use. 

As  regards  fat,  the  Commission  agreed  that  a  desirable 
minimum  of  fat  would  be  75  grams  a  day.  It  recommended 
that  this  fat  ration  be  composed  primarily  of  vegetable  fats 
and  if  there  is  an  insufficiency  of  these  available,  the  deficit 
should  be  made  up  by  animal  fats. 

For  the  special  rations  in  the  army  and  navy  it  was  agreed 
that  for  the  troops,  both  naval  and  military,  behind  the  fight- 
ing lines,  the  minimum  rations  should  be  that  of  the  "  average 
man,"  that  is  to 'say  a  ration  to  produce  3300  calories  and  con- 
taining at  least  75  g.  of  fat.  For  the  actual  combat  troops 
the  value  of  the  ration  should  be  increased  by  600  calories  and 
the  fat  content  by  25  g.  For  troops  fighting  in  high  mountains 
the  calories  should  be  further  increased  to  the  extent  of  200. 

The  Commission  discussed  at  much  length  the  subject  of 
the  milling  rate,  or  rate  of  extraction,  of  flour  from  grain. 
The  usual  extraction  rate  for  bread  grains  in  practically  all 
countries  is  considerably  below  100  per  cent.  That  is  to  say, 
from  a  given  amount  of  wheat  or  rye  or  other  grain,  anywhere 
from  50  to  85  or  90  per  cent,  of  the  berry  goes  into  the  flour, 
the  rest,  'which  is  composed  chiefly  of  the  outer  coats  of  the 
berry,  composing  the  "  offals,"  or  '*  roughage,"  which  is  mostly 
fed  to  animals.  When  there  is  need,  however,  of  "  stretch- 
ing "  the  grain,  the  extraction  rate  is  raised  until  it  may,  as 
in  actual  whole  wheat  flour,  be  composed  of  all  of  the  grain. 
This  means  that  the  flour  contains  a  certain  part,  even  up  to 
all,  of  the  offals  normally  kept  out  of  the  flour.  The 
question  is,  what  is  the  highest  extraction  rate  that  may  be  ad- 
visably used,  from  a  physiological  point  of  view,  at  times 
when  there  is  a  shortage  of  grain,  in  order  to  obtain  as  large 


272  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

an  amount  of  bread  as  possible  from  the  grain  available. 
Taking  into  account  all  of  the  knowledge  available  from  scien- 
tific experiment,  the  Commission  agreed  that  for  the  sake  of 
the  general  health  of  the  whole  population  it  is  advisable  not 
to  use  a  higher  extraction  rate  for  wheat  than  85  per  cent.,  for 
rye  than  70  per  cent.,  for  maize  85  per  cent.,  and  for  barley, 
65  per  cent. 

At  the  same  time  that  the  Inter-Allied  Scientific  Commission 
was  considering  the  international  food  problem  from  a  scien- 
tific point  of  view  the  United  States  Food  Administration, 
endeavoring  by  all  means  in  its  power  to  effect  a  material  sav- 
ing of  food  in  America  for  the  sake  of  being  able  to  send  as 
large  an  amount  as  possible  to  the  Allies,  whose  very  per- 
sistence in  their  war  effort  depended  upon  these  American 
food  contributions,  was  paying  much  attention  to  disseminat- 
ing information  among  the  people  concerning  wise  and 
economical  food  use.  This  involved  many  recommendations 

\   based  on  scientific  knowledge  of  a  proper  balancing  of  the 
/  dietary  and  the  possibility  of  substituting  certain  kinds  of  more 

)  abundant  foods  for  those  less  abundant  but  necessary  to  the 
Allies.  For  the  sake  of  having  the  best  scientific  information 
available  in  connection  with  this  propaganda  the  Food  Ad- 
ministrator asked  a  large  group  of  the  leading  physiological 
chemists  and  food  and  nutrition  experts  of  the  country  to  act 
as  an  advisory  committee  on  food  and  nutrition,  and  all  ques- 
tions whose  answer  involved  a  reference  to  scientific  knowl- 
edge of  food  use  were  referred  to  this  committee.  As  a  result 
of  this  arrangement  much  recent  and  not  yet  popularly  under- 
stood knowledge  of  food  science  was  disseminated  among  the 
people. 

In  addition  to  a  general  popular  propaganda  of  scientific 
food  knowledge  the  Food  Administration  gave  particular  at- 
tention to  encouraging  the  teaching  of  food  knowledge  in  the 
public  schools  and  colleges  and  universities  of  the  country. 
There  were  issued  under  the  auspices  of  the  Food  Adminis- 
tration several  textbooks  on  food  compiled  by  competent  au- 


THE  FOOD  PROBLEM  273 

thorities  and  made  widely  available  to  the  school  children  and 
college  students  of  the  land. 

In  September,  1917,  a  conference  of  representatives  of  the 
American  Navy,  the  offices  of  the  Surgeon-General  and 
Quartermaster-General  of  the  Army,  U.  S.  Food  Administra- 
tion, the  Bureau  of  Chemistry  of  the  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, and  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Council  of  National 
Defense,  was  held  in  Washington  "  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
sidering questions  relating  to  the  subsistence  of  the  army." 
•  In  this  conference  some  of  the  best  American  authorities  on 
nutrition  voiced  the  opinion  that  the  garrison  ration  of  the  U. 
S.  Army  provided  much  more  food  than  would  seem  to  be  re- 
quired except  for  very  heavy  muscular  work  under  rather 
severe  conditions  of  weather  and  climate.  Contrary  opinions 
were,  however,  expressed  by  officers  of  the  army  who  had  had 
much  experience  in  small  organizations  without  army  ration. 
The  representatives  of  the  Food  Administration  also  referred 
to  the  many  complaints  that  had  come  to  them  from  civilians 
visiting  the  army  camps,  so  far  established  at  that  time,  of  an 
enormous  wastage  of  food  to  be  seen  in  those  camps.  The 
discussion  of  these  and  other  points  in  the  methods  and  char- 
acter of  the  army  feeding  led  to  the  determination  to  have  a 
series  of  nutritional  surveys  conducted  by  experienced  ob- 
servers in  the  several  army  camps  with  a  view  to  determine 
quantitively  the  actual  consumption  and  the  actual  wastage  of 
food. 

Early  in  September,  1917,  there  was  organized  a  Food  Divi- 
sion of  the  Surgeon-General's  office  which  was  later  established 
by  the  War  Department  as  a  Division  of  Food  and  Nutrition 
of  the  Medical  Department  of  the  Army.  Major  (later  Lt.- 
Col.)  John  R.  Murlin,  of  the  Sanitary  Corps,  a  well-known 
nutrition  expert,  was  very  active  in  all  this  work  and  from 
various  official  reports  and  scientific  papers  published  by  him 
and  his  associates,  a  large  number  of  facts  concerning  army 
feeding  and  rationing  in  general  have  been  made  generally 
available. 


274  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

The  method  of  conducting  an  army  nutritional  survey  was 
in  brief  as  follows:  A  survey  party,  reporting  to  the  com- 
manding officer,  usually  spent  the  first  few  days  in  becoming 
acquainted  with  the  camp  and  in  learning  where  typical  messes 
could  be  found.  The  most  highly  efficient  as  well  as  the 
poorest  messes  were  purposely  avoided.  During  these  first 
few  days  there  was  also  made  a  preliminary  inspection  of  the 
subsistence  stores  and  of  the  food  on  hand  at  the  mess  houses. 
Next  a  determination  was  made,  consisting  of  careful  inven- 
tories, by  weight,  of  all  foods  in  the  store  room  in  the  beginning 
and  at  the  end  of  a  definite  period  and  of  all  accessions  to  stock 
during  the  period.  At  the  same  time  the  garbage  was  care- 
fully separated  into  edible  and  inedible  portions;  the  former 
was  weighed,  ground  through  a  meat  grinder  or  chopped  with 
spades  according  to  the  amount,  and  a  sample  taken  for 
analysis.  Any  foods  whose  composition  was  in  question  were 
likewise  analyzed.  Deducting  the  second  inventory  from  the 
first,  plus  accessions  to  stock,  and  reducing  to  protein,  fat, 
carbo-hydrate,  and  energy  content,  and  finally  subtracting  pro- 
tein, fat,  carbo-hydrate,  and  energy  content  found  in  the  edible 
waste,  the  net  consumption  for  food  per  man  per  day  would 
be  calculated. 

It  was  found  by  a  careful  study  of  427  army  messes  repre- 
senting about  135,000  men,  that  although  the  daily  ration  sup- 
plied had  a  fuel  value  of  about  3900  calories  the  actual  con- 
sumption of  food  amounted  to  a  little  over  3600  calories  per 
man.  The  protein  content  amounted  to  131  gr.  supplied  and 
122  gr.  consumed;  the  fat  content,  134  gr.  supplied,  123  gr. 
consumed;  the  carbo-hydrate  content,  516  gr.  supplied,  485 
gr.  consumed.  The  total  waste  was  7  per  cent.  In  addition 
to  the  ration  almost  all  of  the  men  added  to  their  daily  food 
intake  by  purchases  made  at  the  canteens,  most  of  the  addi- 
tions consisting  of  chocolates,  cakes,  pies,  and  soft  drinks. 
The  average  consumption  record  for  261  canteens  was  365 
calories  per  man  per  day. 

After  careful  analysis  of  the  make-up  of  the  ration  in  vogue 


THE  FOOD  PROBLEM  275 

in  the  army  it  was  decided  to  formulate  a  new  ration  to  be 
called  the  "  training  ration  "  which  was  especially  worked  out 
so  as  to  avoid  the  considerable  waste  which  occurred  in  con- 
nection with  the  old  ration.  This  "training  ration"  provided 
for  a  protein  content  of  127  gr.,  a  fat  content  of  135  gr.  and 
a  carbo-hydrate  content  of  575  gr.,  giving  a  total  fuel  value 
of  4132  calories.  This  new  "  training  ration  "  was  consider- 
ably in  excess  of  the  rations  in  vogue  in  the  British,  Canadian, 
French,  and  Italian  armies.  The  British  Home  ration  for 
May,  1918,  provided  3483  calories;  the  Canadian  ration  for 
July,  1918,  provided  2946  calories;  the  French  normal  ration 
for  March  29,  1918,  provided  3604  calories;  .the  Italian  Ter- 
ritorial for  February  I,  1917,  provided  2797  calories. 

Elaborate  studies  were  made  by  the  War  Department's  Divi- 
sion of  Food  and  Nutrition  on  the  effect  of  season  on  food 
consumption,  on  the  actual  consumption  of  food  as  effected 
by  the  length  of  time  in  camp,  on  the  food  consumption  in  the 
army  compared  with  other  occupations,  and  on  the  variations 
in  waste  and  strength  of  the  men  in  relation  to  their  food  con- 
sumption. Many  of  the  facts  and  statistics  thus  found  out 
will  be  of  great  value  in  the  future  wise  determination  of  the 
American  Army  ration  as  well  as  in  their  significance  for  mass 
feeding  generally. 

However,  this  work  only  throws  light  upon  the  feeding  of 
men  of  certain  conditions  of  age  and  physique.  There  is  quite 
as  necessary  a  further  scientific  knowledge  of  the  proper  feed- 
ing of  women,  adolescents,  and  infants,  both  as  mass  feeding 
and  individual  feeding.  <  The  experiences  of  the  war  have 
created  a  special  interest  in  this  problem  and  the  people  are 
ready,  as  perhaps  never  before,  to  take  an  interest  in  an  in- 
vestigation of  the  problem  and  to  listen  to,  and  make  use  of, 
the  results  of  such  an  investigation.  )  Therefore,  the  National 
Research  Council,  solicitous  to  encourage  all  scientific  investiga- 
tion, especially  such  as  may  have  an  immediate  value  in  the 
maintenance  and  increase  of  the  national  well-being,  has  or- 
ganized a  special  committee  on  food  and  nutrition  in  connection 


276  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

with  the  work  of  its  Division  of  Biology  and  Agriculture. 
This  Committee  is  composed  of  a  number  of  leading  physio- 
logical chemists  and  food  and  nutrition  experts  of  the  country 
and  has  laid  out  an  important  program  of  investigation.  The 
results  of  this  work  should  be  of  the  highest  value  to  the  na- 
tion. 


XVI 

THE  WAR  SERVICE  OF  THE  MEDICAL 
PROFESSION 

FREDERICK  F.  RUSSELL 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  PERSONNEL  OF  THE  MEDICAL  CORPS 

OF  THE  ARMY 

THE  number  of  medical  officers  in  the  army  before  we 
entered  the  war  was,  on  June  3Oth,  1916,  589,  and  this 
number  was  made  up  of  443  belonging  to  the  regular  army  and 
146  who  were  members  of  the  Medical  Reserve  Corps.  On 
June  30,  1917,  one  year  later,  and  two  and  one-half  months 
after  war  had  been  declared,  the  prompt  response  to  the  call 
for  physicians  from  civil  life  to  assist  the  small  nucleus  already 
in  service,  resulted  in  an  increase  to  4125,  of  whom  487  be- 
longed to  the  regular  service  and  3636  to  the  reserve.  On  June 
30,  1918,  there  were  867  regular  medical  officers  and  20,855  wno 
were  serving  with  temporary  commissions  in  the  Medical  Corps, 
a  total  of  21,722.  On  June  30,  1919,  there  were  948  regular 
and  11,783  temporary  medical  officers,  a  total  of  12,731. 

The  greatest  number  in  service  was  989  regular  and  29,602 
temporary  officers,  a  total  of  30,591  about  the  middle  of  No- 
vember, 1918. 

The  enlisted  force  of  the  Medical  Department  increased 
from  6691  on  April  6,  1917,  to  154,556  on  July  ist,  1918,  to 
264,181  on  November  I5th,  1918,  and  decreased  to  98,396  on 
June  3Oth,  1919.  Until  the  time  of  the  last  reorganization  of 
the  army,  in  1909,  the  enlisted  men  of  the  Medical  Department 
were  known  as  the  Hospital  Corps,  a  name  far  from  appro- 

277 


278  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

priate,  since  large  numbers  of  them  were  attached  to  mobile 
military  formations,  companies,  battalions  and  regiments,  and 
they  had  no  hospital  duties  whatever  while  so  serving;  further 
it  was  a  corps  without  officers  which  was  an  anomalous  con- 
dition and  for  these  and  other  reasons  the  name  was  changed 
to  the  enlisted  force  of  the  Medical  Department ;  the  latter  also 
comprised  the  Dental,  Veterinary  and  Nurse  Corps,  and  after 
the  outbreak  of  the  war,  and  the  passage  of  the  National  De- 
fense Act,  the  Sanitary  Corps,  the  U.  S.  Army  Ambulance 
Service  and  a  large  number  of  Contract  Surgeons  and  civil 
employees. 

These  elements  of  the  Medical  Department  and  their  strength 
at  different  periods  is  shown  in  the  following  table: 

In  1918,  there  were,  in  the  whole  United  States,  147,812 
physicians,  and  among  these  there  was  a  considerable  number 
who  were  not  in  active  practice  of  their  profession.  The  larg- 
est number  on  active  duty  with  the  army  on  any  one  date  was 
30,591,  on  the  I5th  of  November,  1918.  There  were  many 
losses  among  the  medical  officers ;  for  example,  in  some  weeks 
the  losses  exceeded  the  gains,  so  the  total  number  of  physicians 
who  were  at  one  time  or  another  in  active  service  was  much 
greater  than  the  number  just  given.  The  exact  figures  can- 
not now  be  stated,  but  it  was  in  the  neighborhood  of  40,000,  and 
this  last  number  represents,  perhaps,  about  one  third  of  the 
physicians  in  active  practice  in  the  United  States. 

It  has  been  estimated  by  military  authorities  in  the  past  that 
it  would  require  seven  physicians  per  thousand  of  army 
strength  for  service  directly  with  troops  and  approximately 
three  per  thousand  in  addition  for  work  at  home  with  recruit- 
ing, with  convalescents  and  chronic  cases.  Since  we  had  ap- 
proximately four  million  men  at  one  time  or  another  and  about 
40,000  physicians  in  all,  the  result,  10  per  thousand,  corresponds 
very  closely  with  the  estimate.  The  greatest  number  in  the 
army  at  any  one  time  was  3,634,000  on  the  first  of  November, 
1918,  and  at  about  that  time  we  had  30,591  medical  officers, 
which  again  is  very  close  to  the  estimate. 


WAR  SERVICE  OF  MEDICAL  PROFESSION 


00 
Ov 


*     -  S 


1 


l*Wl 


XJBJtOdtUSJ, 


tx   co    CM  OQ.    O^ 


tx   JO 

00      8* 


1-4     M     O    O\ 


M     O    O\    ^  O  i^ 

^  ^8     ^      8 


Is 


i-i  \O 

OS          00 
• 


!H 

:  1 1 

:  I  1 


£-0 


0\ 
vO 


00     O 


OO     tx 


s 


on 
rp 
es 


rge 


5  ^ 
U  ^o 

<L)    *H. 

5    2    6 

*-  ^  w 

^  ^    c 

111 


280 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


B.  Changes  in  Regular  Medical  Corps 


Major 
General 

u 

4>_ 

12 

j*s 

IH    4J 

ttO 

Colonel 

Lieutenant 
Colonel 

1 

s 

c 
'3 

! 

Lieutenant 

*«3 
£ 

June  30,  1918  

I 

o 

64 

112 

296 

394 

867 

June  30,  1919.  .  .  . 

I 

2 

60 

109 

349 

154 

264 

939 

Losses  : 

Deaths 

o 

o 

o 

O 

Q 

Resignations   .. 

O 

o 

O 

O 

5 

2 

21 

28 

Retirements  ..  . 

I 

0 

7 

I 

2 

I 

0 

12 

Discharges     ... 

O 

0 

0 

0 

O 

I 

3 

4 

Declinations    .. 

o 

o 

0 

o 

0 

0 

20 

20 

Other  causes  .  . 

o 

o 

o2 

o 

0 

0 

O 

3 

Appointments   ... 

o 

0 

0 

o 

o 

O 

145 

145 

2  Col.  Ireland  made  Surgeon  General,  Col.  McCaw  made  brigadier 
general,  and  Lieut  Col.  Noble  made  brigadier  general. 


If 

rt 

1 

M 

Temporary 

Aug.  i,  1918:  3 
Overseas    

TO  I 

7,698 

United   States    .... 

365 

14.06^ 

Total    

866 

22,66l 

June  30,  1919  : 

338 

6,217 

United  States                                             

603 

^  578 

Total          

941 

11,795 

3  Figures  for  July  I,  1918,  will  not  be  known  until  the  records  of  the 
chief  surgeon,  American  Expeditionary  Forces,  are  transferred  to  the 
Surgeon  General's  Office. 


WAR  SERVICE  OF  MEDICAL  PROFESSION      281 

The  response  of  the  medical  profession  to  the  call  of  the 
Government  was  at  all  times  sufficient  for  our  needs,  and  in 
addition  permitted  us  to  loan  medical  officers  to  our  Allies  in 
considerable  numbers,  particularly  to  Great  Britain. 

The  wastage  or  losses  from  all  causes  during  the  period  of 
our  participation  in  the  war,  was  about  ten  thousand  or  one- 
quarter  of  the  total  names  on  the  rolls. 

SANITARY   ENGINEERING   PROBLEMS   AT   HOME   AND  ABROAD 

In  home  territory  in  all  large  National  Army  and  National 
Guard  camps  good  potable  water  was  provided,  where  possible 
by  purchasing  treated  water  from  a  nearby  city,  but  when  this 
was  not  feasible  a  complete  water  supply  system  was  installed 
at  the  camp  itself.  This  usually  consisted  of  an  impounding 
basin  for  the  collection  and  sedimentation  of  the  raw  water, 
which  was  then  filtered  in  some  form  of  rapid  sand  filter  after 
dosing  with  alum  or  other  suitable  coagulant,  to  throw  down 
all  suspended  matter.  Finally,  at  practically  every  place,  the 
clear  water  was  then  treated  with  anhydrous  chlorin  gas,  which 
disinfected  the  water  by  oxidizing  all  organic  matter. 

In  smaller  places,  the  question  of  water  purification  was 
less  satisfactorily  answered.  The  Lyster  bag  method  of  chlori- 
nation  was  the  standard.  The  chlorin  was  added  to  the  raw 
water,  in  the  form  of  bleaching  powder,  which  was  put  up 
in  small  measured  quantities,  in  glass  ampuls.  The  bag  itself 
is  made  of  strong  canvas  and  is  attached  to  a  folding  iron  ring 
at  the  top.  At  the  sides  a  little  above  the  bottom,  high  enough 
to  avoid  the  sediment  which  falls  gradually  to  the  lowest  point, 
are  several  simple  faucets  from  which  the  water  is  drawn  off 
to  fill  canteens  and  other  pure  water  containers. 

The  control  of  successful  water  sterilization  by  means  of 
chlorin  is  fortunately  a  simple  "mailer,  consisting  merely  in  a 
test  for  free  chlorin  by  means  of  the  starch  iodine  test.  This 
is  made  thirty  minutes  after  the  bleaching  powder  has  been 
added  to  the  water  in  the  Lyster  bag,  by  taking  a  large  cupful 
and  adding  to  it  10  drops  of  a  10  per  cent,  solution  of  iodide 


282  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

of  potassium,  and  the  same  amount  of  a  one  per  cent,  solution 
of  soluble  starch  and  one-half  per  cent,  of  sulphate  of  zinc. 
If  free  chlorin  be  present,  the  iodine  is  liberated  from  the 
potassium  iodide  and  it  combines  with  the  starch,  giving  the 
characteristic  blue  color  of  starch  iodide.  The  significance  of 
the  test  is  clear  when  it  is  realized  that  the  chlorin  is  used  up 
by  the  organic  matter  present  in  the  water,  and  that  there  can 
be  no  excess  unless  all  the  organic  matter  has  been  oxidized. 
If  the  test  shows  no  free  chlorin  more  bleaching  powder  is 
added  until  some  is  present  in  excess. 

The  principle  of  chlorination  in  the  Lyster  bag  is  the  same  as 
in  the  largest  installations,  depending  as  it  does  on  the  oxidiza- 
tion of  all  organic  matter,  by  the  oxygen  set  free  by  the  action 
of  nascent  chlorin  on  the  water  molecule.  The  small  quantities 
treated  in  this  method  make  it  very  difficult  to  adjust  the 
chloride  of  lime  accurately,  and  the  result  is  that  the  water 
may  be  'overdosed  with  chlorin,  giving  it  an  unpleasant  taste. 
The  soldier  may  then  be  tempted  to  drink  untreated  water, 
which  although  clear,  bright  and  sparkling,  may  be  heavily 
contaminated  with  pathogenic  bacteria,  rather  than  the  water 
which  is  quite  safe  but  less  attractive  in  appearance  and  flavor. 

In  the  A.  E.  F.  both  large  and  small  scale  water  treatment 
was  used  almost  everywhere  the  American  troops  were  sta- 
tioned. In  the  back  areas,  that  is,  on  the  Lines  of  Com- 
munication, or  rather,  in  the  area  of  the  Service  of  Supply 
(S.  O.  S.)  as  it  later  came  to  be  called,  it  was  usually  possible 
to  use  the  large  scale  methods  in  cooperation  with  the  French 
civil  and  military  authorities. 

Chlorination  of  water  supplies  in  the  United  States  has  been 
customary  for  the  past  ten  years,  but  until  1917  the  method 
was  not  known  in  France.  It  was  introduced  there  by  an  army 
chemist  and  water  supply  expert,  who  had  been  selected  for 
special  work  in  France  by  the  National  Research  Council. 
This  officer  worked  with  the  French  authorities  and  at  the 
Laboratory  of  the  Museum  de  Histoire  Naturelle,  Paris,  in 
conjunction  with  a  French  chemist  he  carried  out  a  series  of 


WAR  SERVICE  OF  MEDICAL  PROFESSION      283 

demonstrations  showing  the  practicability  of  treating  success- 
fully the  raw  water  of  the  Seine.  The  results  of  these  trials 
were  published  in  the  "  Revue  d'  Hygiene,"  1918,  and  reprints 
of  this  article  proved  of  great  assistance  in  obtaining  the  ready 
cooperation  of  French  municipalities  for  the  chlorination  of 
their  public  water  supplies. 

As  one  area  after  another  was  taken  over  for  billetting  and 
training  American  troops,  complete  sanitary  surveys  were  made, 
including  a  study  of  the  quantity  and  quality  of  all  available 
water  supplies.  Until  the  results  of  the  survey  were  known 
and  posted  all  water  was  treated  as  if  contaminated  and  was 
chlorinated. 

In  the  front  areas,  where  it  was  impossible  to  deliver  safe 
water  at  water  points  for  men  and  animals,  by  means  of  large 
motor  trucks,  recourse  had  to  be  had  J:o  the  Lyster  bag.  Each 
organization  was  equipped  with  these  bags  and  the  necessary 
bleaching  powder,  and  a  water  detail,  consisting  of  one  or 
more  men  of  the  command,  was  in  charge  of  the  water  puri- 
fication. Satisfactory  results  were  not  usually  obtained  unless 
the  water  detail  consisted  of  men  permanently  assigned  to  this 
work  under  the  direction  of  the  surgeon  of  the  command. 

The  process  of  chlorination,  when  used  with  reasonable  care, 
either  on  a  large  or  small  scale,  is  one  of  the  most  successful 
methods  of  purifying  water,  and  its  adoption  for  military  ex- 
peditions is  a  matter  of  the  greatest  importance  for  the  health 
of  the  troops.  Had  it  been  possible  to  use  it  everywhere  as 
planned  we  would  have  escaped  the  relatively  small  amount  of 
typhoid  fever  and  dysentery  which  did  occur  in  France.  The 
difficulties  of  transportation  under  war  conditions  on  the 
western  front  were  such  that  it  was  impossible  at  all  times  to 
have  adequate  supplies  of  bleaching  powder  in  the  hands  of 
the  troops,  and  they  were  thus  compelled  to  drink  whatever 
water  was  available.  Early  in  1918  the  system  of  supply  was 
changed  so  that  bleaching  powder  was  issued  with  the  rations 
of  the  man.  This  was  a  decided  improvement,  but  lack  of 
trained  personnel  and  the  inexperience  of  many  of  the  troops 


284  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

made  them  careless  in  the  enforcement  of  water  discipline. 
Nevertheless,  the  total  number  of  cases  of  diseases  of  the  in- 
testines, diarrhoea,  dysentery  and  typhoid  was  smaller  than  in 
any  other  war  in  history. 

SELECTIVE  SERVICE- 

Another  considerable  medical  activity  of  the  war  was  cen- 
tered in  the  Selective  Service  Boards  which  were  organized 
by  and  administered  under  the  direction  of  the  Provost  Marshal 
General.  It  was  expressly  stipulated  in  the  Selective  Service 
Law,  that  the  machinery  should  be  civil  rather  than  military, 
and  no  officers  of  the  army  engaged  directly  in  the  selection  of' 
the  men  who  were  to  make  up  our  forces.  A  few  of  the  ad- 
ministrative heads  of  the  service,  however,  were  members  of 
the  permanent  or  temporary  military  force.  This  was  par- 
ticularly true  of  the  federal  control  of  the  service,  which  cen- 
tered in  the  office  of  the  Provost  Marshal,  General  Crowder, 
who,  in  times  of  peace,  is  the  Judge  Advocate  General  of  the 
Regular  Army;  some  of  his  assistants  belonged  to  the  same 
body.  In  each  state,  the  governor,  under  the  law,  divided  his 
territory  into  districts,  one  for  each  county,  except  in  cities  of 
over  30,000  population,  and  these  were  divided  into  districts 
of  not  over  30,000.  This  meant  the  organization  of  4557  local 
boards,  each  consisting  of  three  men,  of  whom  one  was  a 
physician  who  made  the  physical  examinations,  sometimes 
alone,  but  often  with  assistance.  Under  the  first  draft  the 
number  of  men  selected  by  the  Local  Boards  was  527,000. 
On  November  8,  1917,  new  selective  service  regulations  were 
promulgated  which  authorized  the  regular  appointment  of  as- 
sistant medical  examiners  for  the  Local  Boards,  and  also  of  a 
new  board,  composed  entirely  of  physicians  called  the  Medical 
Advisory  Board,  on  which  all  the  special  fields  of  medicine 
were  represented  by  experts.  To  this  Board  all  doubtful  cases 
were  referred  by  the  Local  Boards;  in  all  there  were  1319 
such  Advisory  Boards,  distributed  through  the  states  so  as  to 
be  most  easily  accessible.  As  a  rule  they  were  located  at  some 


WAR  SERVICE  OF  MEDICAL  PROFESSION      285 

well  equipped  hospital,  where  facilities  were  at  hand  for  the 
most  intricate  tests  and  specialized  examinations.  Under  the 
first  selective1  service  act,  approximately  10,000,000  men,  from 
21  to  30  years  of  age,  were  registered,  and  of  these  2,510,000 
were  examined  by  the  Local  Boards.  Of  this  number  730,000 
or  29.1  per  cent,  were  rejected  on  physical  grounds. 

The  report  of  the  Provost  Marshal  General  indicates  that 
about  22  per  cent,  of  the  rejections  were  caused  by  some 
mechanical  defect  in  the  organism,  or  rather  some  defect  or 
disease  that  would  interfere  with  its  mechanical  performance, 
such  as  defects  in  the  bones  and  joints,  flat  foot  and  hernia. 
An  additional  15  per  cent,  were  rejected  because  of  imperfec- 
tions of  the  sense  organs,  and  about  13  per  cent,  for  defects 
in  the  cardio-vascular  system.  About  12  per  cent,  were  re- 
jected on  account  of  nervous  and  mental  troubles,  in  part  due 
to  abnormal  thyroid  secretions.  About  10  per  cent,  were  re- 
jected on  account  of  the  two  communicable  disease  groups  — 
tuberculosis  and  severe  cases  of  venereal  infections.  About 
8*/2  per  cent,  were  rejected  because  of  developmental  defects 
in  physique ;  about  6  per  cent,  because  of  diseases  of  the  skin 
and  teeth,  and  about  13^  per  cent,  for  miscellaneous  defects. 

The  significance  of  these  findings  for  civil  life  is  not  im- 
mediately apparent.  The  demands  of  the  military  life  on  the 
physique  of  a  man  are  much  greater  than  those  of  civil  life, 
because  of  the  need  for  ability  to  make  long  marches  while 
carrying  a  heavy  load  (40  or  more  pounds)  and  for  reserve 
strength  and  vitality  to  throw  into  a  fight  at  the  end  of  a  long 
and  wearisome  march.  A  man  who  weighs  only  100  pounds, 
however  healthy  and  however  strong  he  may  be  for  hi,s  size, 
can  rarely  do  this.  Yet  his  small  size  may  even  be  an  ad- 
vantage in  civil  life.  Again,  many  a  man  with  a  tendency 
toward  flat-foot  or  hernia  may  do  his  work  in  civil  life  well,  and 
always  have  excellent  health,  and  be  really  unaware  of  any 
weakness,  but  his  presence  may  handicap  combatant  troops. 
Defects  in  sense  organs  are  less  important  in  civil  life,  because 
the  individual  adjusts  his  life  to  them  and  finds  ways  to  pro- 


286  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

tect  himself.  Also  the  stress  of  struggle,  work  and  excitement 
on  the  battlefield  requires  a  degree  of  perfection  in  heart  action 
and  inervation  that  is  rarely  demanded  in  civil  life.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  disabilities  due  to  nervous  and  mental  diseases 
and  to  tuberculosis-  an^  the  venereal  infections  are  an  equal 
handicap  in  the  life  of  a  civilian.  Considering  these  circum- 
stances it  is  probable  that  not  over  half  of  the  29.1  per  cent, 
rejected  for  military  service  were  incapacitated  in  a  civil  sense. 

CASUALTIES   FROM    POISON   GAS 

When  looked  at  from  one  point  of  view  poison  gas  is  one 
of  the  most  humane  weapons  of  warfare.  Although  74,779 
of  the  274,217  battle  casualties  resulted  from  gas,  the  number 
of  deaths  was  very  small,  1.87  per  cent.,  as  compared  with  23.4 
per  cent,  from  shell  and  bullet  wounds.  These  figures  indi- 
cate that  a  man  suffering  from  poison  gas  has  twelve  times  as 
many  chances  for  recovery  as  a  man  put  out  of  action  by  other 
weapons. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  war  chlorin  gas  alone  was  used,  be- 
ing liberated  in  great  clouds  when  the  direction  of  the  wind 
was  favorable,  from  steel  cylinders  of  liquefied  chlorin,  and  the 
cloud  was  carried  by  the  wind  in  the  direction  of  the  enemy. 
Experience  soon  demonstrated  that  the  poison  gas  was  quite 
difficult  of  control  when  used  in  this  way,  and  the  chlorin 
cloud  gas  offensive  was  soon  superseded  by  gas  of  many  sorts 
contained  in  explosive  shells  which  could  be  placed  exactly 
where  the  enemy  desired.  Reference  to  other  portions  of  this 
work  will  give  greater  details  of  the  methods  of  using  gas. 
Our  interest  at  this  moment  lies  in  its  medical  aspect  alone. 

The  new  gases  were  of  many  sorts,  but  the  most  important 
was  dichlor-ethyl-sulphid  or  mustard  or  yellow  cross  gas  as 
it  was  commonly  called.  The  liquid  gas  vaporizes  rather 
slowly  on  the  explosion  of  the  shell,  and  in  addition  the  fluid 
itself  is  sprayed  over  all  those  in  the  immediate  neighborhood 
of  the  explosion.  Its  effects  are  not  noticed  at  once,  and  are 
really  not  much  appreciated  until  about  four  hours  after  ex- 


WAR  SERVICE  OF  MEDICAL  PROFESSION      287 

posure.  It  causes  an  eruption  on  the  skin,  at  first  of  larger 
or  smaller  rose  red  areas,  which  will  later  form  blisters  con- 
taining yellow  fluid.  Later  the  fluid  may  coagulate  and  be- 
come infected  and  the  mass  will  slough  away  leaving  a  large 
punched  out  ulcer.  As  the  fluid  from  a  blister  runs  over  the 
skin  it  may  produce  secondary  eruptions  and  even  ulcers.  In 
addition  to  the  lesions  on  the  skin,  there  may  be  conjunctivitis, 
and  ulcerations  of  the  cornea,  and  a  little  later  vomiting,  hoarse- 
ness, cough  and  pain  with  shortness  of  breath ;  in  the  severer 
cases  there  is  oedema  of  the  lungs  and  early  death.  Cases  of 
intermediate  severity  may  progress  well  for  a  day  or  two,  and 
then  develop  a  broncho-pneumonia  from  secondary  infections 
through  the  damaged  mucous  membrane  of  the  respiratory 
tract.  Such  cases  die  or  recover,  depending  upon  the  extent 
of  the  lesion.  As  a  precautionary  measure  it  was  customary 
to  consider  all  gassed  men  as  litter  cases,  to  be  carried  to  the 
rear  to  special  gas  hospitals  after  receiving  first  aid  treat- 
ment, which  usually  consisted  of  irrigations  of  the  eyes,  nose 
and  mouth  with  a  five  per  cent,  solution  of  sodium  bicarbonate, 
and  an  application  of  soft  soap  or  of  soda  solution  to  the  body, 
or  if  the  case  be  seen  early  enough  a  two  per  cent,  solution  of 
chlorinated  lime  may  be  used  to  neutralize  the  gas.  To  reach 
the  throat,  trachea  and  the  bronchi,  inhalations  of  aromatic 
spirits  of  ammonia,  or  of  two  per  cent,  sodium  thiosulphate  or 
0.5  per  cent,  sodium  bicarbonate  were  used.  The  further 
treatment  of  the  skin  lesions  was  much  like  that  employed  for 
ordinary  burns.  As  soon  as  possible  the  man's  entire  clothing 
was  changed,  as  the  gas  adhered  to  it  and  remained  active  for 
long  periods,  and  he  was  given  a  complete  bath  in  warm  water 
and  alkali  and  a  complete  new  outfit  of  clothing. 

The  gas  inhalation  cases  which  were  severe  enough  to  be 
sent  back  to  base  hospitals  were  treacherous  and  uncertain  in 
their  course,  and  many  died  after  an  illness  of  weeks.  All 
possible  lesions  of  the  lung  were  present  from  simple  catarrhal 
bronchitis  and  oedema  to  suppurative  processes  involving  the 
trachea  and  bronchi  and  the  lung  itself.  In  the  slower  but 


X 
288  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

severe  cases  the  inflammation  might  gradually  extend  from  one 
part  of  the  lung  to  another  over  a  period  of  two  weeks  or  more, 
the  patient  becoming  gradually  more  and  more  cyanosed  and 
water  logged. 

The  treatment  subsequent  to  the  first  aid  already  described 
consisted  in  absolute  rest  in  bed,  occasional  bleeding,  and  oc- 
casional administration  of  oxygen,  often  for  long  periods,  and 
the  proper  amount  of  stimulation,  and  the  interval  administra- 
tion of  alkalies,  and  for  the  conjunctivitis  and  skin  burns,  alka- 
line applications  and  irrigations.  The  strain  on  the  heart  was 
often  severe  requiring  the  exhibition  of  digitalis.  Small  doses 
of  morphine  were  necessary  to  control  the  cough  and  to  secure 
rest.  The  sputum  was  often  purulent  and  streaked  with  blood, 
and  in  some  cases  profuse  and  watery.  The  hoarseness  was 
sometimes  followed  by  complete  loss  of  voice  and  examina- 
tion usually  showed  oedema  and  swelling  of  the  vocal  cords 
or  ulceration  and  the  presence  of  a  false  membrane.  If  the 
pharynx  was  also  involved  there  was  pain  on  swallowing,  with 
dryness  and  a  burning  sensation  in  the  nose,  throat  and  mouth. 
The  pain  in  the  chest  was  a  frequent  symptom,  occuring  in 
perhaps  75  per  cent,  of  the  cases,  and  while  it  was  not  limited 
to  any  region  of  the  chest  it  was  more  common  over  the  heart 
than  in  any  other  location. 

During  convalescence  a  system  of  graduated  exercises  was 
used  to  restore  the  men,  if  possible,  to  complete  recovery,  be- 
fore returning  them  to  a  duty  status. 

Insufficient  time  has  elapsed  to  enable  us  to  know  the  end 
results  of  gas  poisoning.  So  far  as  one  can  tell  at  the  present 
time,  from  the  physical  examinations  of  thousands  of  returned 
patients,  there  is  no  reason  for  believing  that  the  irritation  and 
subsequent  inflammation  of  the  respiratory  organs  tends  to 
induce  tuberculosis  or  to  light  up  a  focus  of  pulmonary  tubercu- 
losis already  existing. 

Further,  the  evidence  is  scant  that  among  returned  soldiers, 
at  least,  there  is  any  material  destruction  of  the  tissue  of  the 
lungs. 


WAR  SERVICE  OF  MEDICAL  PROFESSION      289 

RECONSTRUCTION   WORK   IN    HOSPITALS 

r 

I     The  development  of  reconstruction  work  in  army  hospitals 

I   has  been  one  of  the  strikingly  good  results  of  the  war.     The 

\  idea  is  not  altogether  new,  but  it,  like  so  many  other  advances 

in  medicine  and  surgery,  had,  before  the  war,  been  confined 

to  a  certain  few  hospitals  of  the  best  class,  and  it  also  was  of 

very  unequal  quality.     The  development  during  the  war  in  this 

field  consisted  in  applying  the  best  features  of  the  work  to  all 

our  hospitals,  in  a  standardized  manner. 

The  so-called  reconstruction  work  was  really  divided  into 
two  quite  different  sorts  of  undertakings,  although  they  both 
went  along  side  by  side,  usually  using  the  same  methods  and 
principles,  but  with  two  separate  and  distinct  objects  in  view. 
The  first  was  to  occupy  the  man's  mind  and  at  the  same  time 
to  improve  it,  so  that  his  spirits  and  morale  were  not  impaired 
by  his  long  and  possibly  painful  illness,  f  The  purpose  of  the 
morale  treatment 'was  to  overcome  the  condition  so  long  known 
as  hospitalism,  a  form  of  chronic  invalidism  which  leads  to  help- 
lessness and  loss  of  initiative,  which  is  entirely  mental  and  has 
no  relation  to  the  amount  of  physical  deformity  or  of  limitation 
of  function./  The  second  object  is  the  restoration  of  function 
of  the  injure^  part  as  completely  and  as  early  as  possible.  I  To 
accomplish  these  results,  which  are  as  a  matter  of  fact,  just 
as  important  in  civil  life  as  in  military,  it  was  found  that  the 
reconstruction  work  could  not  be  postponed  until  the  patient 
was  sufficiently  recovered  to  be  sent  to  another  hospital  espe- 
cially set  aside  for  this  sort  of  teaching,  but  that  it  must  be 
started  just  so  soon  as  the  patient  was  able  to  do  anything  at 
all,  and  that,  therefore,  every  hospital  where  patients  were  sent 
for  anything  more  than  emergency  treatment  must  have  a 
"  reconstruction  staff  "  in  addition  to  the  medical  and  surgical 
staff.  These  persons,  sometimes  physicians,  but  more  often 
teachers  or  psychologists,  went  into  all  the  wards  and  started 
instruction  as  soon  as  a  patient  was  able  to  do  anything;  as, 
for  example,  a  man  might  be  taught  to  do  bead  work  simply 


290  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

as  a  means  of  arousing  his  interest  and  causing  him  to  think 
of  the  possibilities  for  retraining  himself  for  some  new  form 
of  employment  suited  to  his  modified  physical  condition. 
Whenever  possible  the  new  work  chosen  was  on  a  higher  plane 
than  his  former  occupation.  For  example,  a  house  painter 
might  be  taught  fancy  lettering  and  sign  painting,  which  re- 
quired less  strength  but  more  skill,  and  some  have  been  able 
to  command  higher  wages  after  injury  than  they  had  been 
able  to  obtain  before.  Blind  men  were  taught  to  assemble 
watches  or  clocks  or  intricate  automobile  parts,  and  so  to  sup- 
port themselves  a|  least  as  well  as  before  entering  the  service 
of  their  country.  /  The  training  was  both  vocational  and  thera- 
peutic and  the  two  were  inseparable. ,  A  barber,  for  example, 
who  had  received  a  considerable  injury  of  the  hand  would  re- 
cover the  lost  function  quicker  in  doing  the  work  of  a  barber 
than  by  long  hours  of  passive  or  mechanical  motion  in  the 
hospital  ward.  The  difference  in  the  spirit  of  the  men  was 
soon  seen  and  in  its  turn  exerted  an  undoubted  influence  in 
hastening  convalescence  and  in  preventing  the  paralyzing  hos- 
pitalism  which  formerly  followed  injuries  which  interfered 
with  the  earning  power  of  the  individual.  Such  injuries  are 
common  in  civil  life,  in  the  industries  and  in  mining  and  rail- 
roading and  civil  hospitals  and  insurance  commissions  will  no 
doubt  continue  to  use  the  reconstruction  methods  which  have 
been  elaborated  during  the  war.  The  public,  the  patient  and 
the  physician  now  are  all  informed  of  the  great  possibilities 
of  corrective  vocational  training  and  will  demand  its  use  in 
the  future. 


XVII 

SOME  DISEASES  PREVALENT  IN  THE  ARMY 
FREDERICK  F.  RUSSELL 

THE   WAR    NEUROSES 

THESE  diseases  early  in  the  war  came  to  be  called  "  Shell- 
shock  "  and  a  considerable  amount  of  literature  and  dis- 
cussion has  grown  up  about  them.  Although  the  forms  of 
psycho-neuroses  which  appeared  early  were  apparently  new, 
it  was  soon  recognized  that  the  disease  was  essentially  an  old 
and  well  established  entity,  but  that  the  manifestations  of  the 
diseased  condition  took  on  new  forms  peculiar  to  the  war. 
In  times  of  peace  we  have  comparable  conditions  resulting 
from  railroad  and  other  accidents;  in  fact  from  anything 
which  makes  a  profound  mental  impression,  usually  associated 
with  great  apprehension,  fear  or  horror.  Even  in  our  train- 
ing camps  in  this  country,  three  thousand  miles  away  from  ex- 
ploding shells,  many  cases  of  war  neurosis  developed.  One 
of  the  commonest  forms  was  stiffness  of  the  spine  and  rigidity 
of  the  muscles  of  the  back,  usually  in  some  markedly  flexed  or 
twisted  position.  Although  the  manifestations  of  the  disease 
were  innumerable  they  all  had  one  feature  in  common:  com- 
plete impossibility  of  performing  the  full  duties  of  a  soldier  in 
the  front  line  of  the  armies.  It  is  not  understood  that  these 
men  were  malingering,  that  is,  faking  a  disability,  because  the 
man  himself,  unless  given  the  proper  care  and  treatment,  was 
quite  unable  to  control  the  malady.  In  other  words,  his  symp- 
toms were  due  entirely  to  his  nervous  and  highly  excited 
mental  condition,  and  they  had  no  organic  or  actual  tissue 

291 


292  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

change  in  the  body  as  a  foundation.  The  conditions  under 
which  the  men  fought  were  enough  to  shake  the  nerves  of  all 
but  the  strongest  individuals,  and  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at 
that  a  profound  impression  was  made  on  any  person  in  the 
least  inclined  to  be  emotional.  The  symptoms  of  the  disease 
were  so  numerous  that  it  is  impossible  even  to  enumerate  them, 
as  almost  every  known  disability  was  mimicked. 

Early  in  the  war  the  purely  nervous  nature  of  the  conditions 
was  not  recognized  by  the  physicians  in  charge  of  most  of  them, 
nor  by  the  public,  and  the  men  were  treated  in  the  base  hos- 
pitals as  though  they  had  a  serious  organic  lesion  in  the  brain 
or  spinal  cord,  rather  than  a  pure  disturbance  of  function 
without  organic  change.  As  the  patient  was  still  in  an  emo- 
tional and  highly  sensitive  state  each  suggestion  of 
disease  soon  became  to  him  a  reality,  and  as  time  went  on  the 
course  of  the  disease  grew  worse,  rather  than  better,  and 
chronic  invalidism  became  the  only  outlook. 

When,  however,  these  cases  were  carefully  studied  by  trained 
neurologists  their  identity  with  peace  time  neuroses  was  estab- 
lished and  a  complete  reversal  was  instituted.  This  occurred 
at  a  very  early  date  among  the  French,  who  have  long  been 
foremost  in  the  knowledge  of  the  psychoneuroses.  The  patients 
were  no  longer  sent  home  or  even  to  the  base  ports,  but  were 
treated  in  special  hospitals  not  far  back  of  the  front,  by  men 
who  were  especially  skilled  in  nervous  diseases.  The  treatment 
was  along  definite  lines,  was  firm,  almost  paternal,  and  above 
all  was  given  promptly,  as  soon  after  the  true  nature  of  the 
disease  was  recognized  as  possible.  In  principle  the  successful 
method  of  treatment  was  essentially  reeducation  in  the  life  of  a 
soldier.  Drill  and  work  of  a  useful  kind  was  kept  up  as  much 
as  possible  and  everything  done  to  aid  the  patient  in  regaining 
his  normal  healthy  view  of  the  life  of  a  soldier  and  his  control 
of  his  emotions.  In  the  military  atmosphere  of  drill  and  useful 
work  and  with  good  hygiene,  food  and  comfortable  living  condi- 
tions it  was  astonishing  how  soon  these  men  became  normal 
soldiers  again,  and  although  many  were  unable  to  resume  full 


. 


DISEASES  PREVALENT  IN  THE  ARMY      293 

duty  in  the  front  line  again  they  did  their  part  somewhere  in 
the  rear,  in  the  Service  of  Supply  of  the  armies. 

It  had  been  estimated,  early  in  the  war,  that  about  10  per 
cent,  of  cases  admitted  to  hospitals  in  the  A.  E.  F.  were  of  this 
nature,  and  that  about  60  per  cent,  of  these  had  been  returned 
to  duty.  It  was  also  frequently  noted  that  a  neurosis  rarely 
occurred  in  a  wounded  man,  and  that  they  were  exceedingly 
rare  in  colored  soldiers.  It  is  doubtful  if  these  were  so  numer- 
ous as  that,  for  there  were  only  3795  cases  reported  as  such 
during  1918,  and  even  if  4266  cases  of  hysteria  are  added  the 
sum  would  be  only  8061  out  of  a  total  of  82,289  diagnoses 
reported  during  the  year.  On  the  whole,  the  American  Army 
was  relatively  free  from  these  conditions,  and  this  was  due 
principally  to  the  fact  that  we  profited  from  the  experience  of 
our  Allies  and  excluded  from  the  ranks  of  our  army  as  many 
as  possible  of  these  who  would  be  more  liable  to  develop  such 
neuroses.  At  each  training  camp  and  mobilization  center  was 
stationed  a  board  consisting  of  one  or  more  psychologists  and 
psychiatrists,  and,  as  a  result  of  their  examinations  of  the  re- 
cruits as  they  arrived  from  their  homes,  all  the  weak-minded, 
mentally  diseased  and  the  neurotic  were  eliminated.  This  not 
'only  reduced  the  number  of  cases  of  war  neuroses,  but  also 
kept  down  our  military  offenders  and  criminals.  No  army  in 
history  was  so  free  from  crime,  both  large  and  small,  as  the 
American  Expeditionary  Force. 

INFECTIOUS  DISEASES  DURING  THE  WAR 

In  the  study  of  the  infectious  diseases,  one  of  the  fundamen- 
tals is  the  problem  of  the  healthy  human  carrier.  In  the  ordi- 
nary course  of  events  a  person  who  is  infected  with  some 
pathogenic  organism  develops  the  particular  disease  caused  by 
the  microorganism  in  question,  and  he  exhibits  a  more  or  less 
typical  picture  of  the  disease,  and  either  recovers  or  succumbs 
from  the  infection.  If  he  succumbs  we  can  often  demonstrate 
the  presence  of  the  causative  microorganism  in  the  blood  and  in 
many  of  the  tissues  at  autopsy,  often  in  enormous  numbers.  If 


294  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

the  patient  recovers,  the  conditions  are  quite  the  opposite,  the 
causative  organism,  after  the  height  of  the  disease  is  passed, 
tends  to  disappear  from  the  blood  stream  and  then  from  the 
body,  and  in  most  infections  it  is  necessary  to  make  the  usual 
bacteriological  examinations  early  in  the  course  of  the  disease 
in  order  to  be  successful  in  isolating  it.  Sooner  or  later,  there- 
fore, there  comes  a  time  when  the  infecting  organism  is  unable 
to  survive  in  the  combat  with  the  defensive  forces  of  the  body, 
and  it  disappears  completely.  We  know,  however,  that  there 
are  many  mild  cases  in  all  the  infectious  diseases,  from  which, 
nevertheless,  the  specific  organism  may  be  recovered.  Here, 
also,  the  germs  usually  disappear  completely  with  recovery. 
The  next  step,  from  the  mild  case  to  the  healthy  carrier  is  an 
easy  one ;  at  first  glance  it  sounds  paradoxical  to  speak  of  this 
condition  as  an  infection  because  there  are  no  symptoms  of 
illness.  Yet,  if  we  accept  the  presence  of  immunity  to  a  new 
infection  and  of  specific  anti-bodies  in  the  blood  as  evidence  of 
the  invasion  of  the  body  we  must  consider  the  healthy  carrier 
as  a  person  who  suffers  from  the  mildest  form  of  infection. 
Even  in  this  case  the  normal  course  of  events  leads  to  the 
gradual  disappearance  of  the  infectious  agents  from  the  body 
and  the  usual  healthy  carrier  is  merely  casually  or  temporarily 
in  that  condition. 

In  certain  persons,  however,  the  organism  continues  to  exist 
in  the  body  for  an  indefinite  period,  sometimes  for  years  or 
even  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  he  is  then  classed  as  a 
chronic  carrier  from  whom  the  pathogenic  organism  can  be 
obtained  either  constantly  or  at  intervals. 

The  temporary  carrier  frees  himself  from  the  invading  bac- 
teria by  developing  an  immunity  with  a  surplus  of  anti-bodies 
in  his  body  fluids  sufficient  to  kill  off  the  invaders.  Why  does 
this  not  occur  also  in  the  chronic  carrier?  Is  the  difference  due 
to  the  microorganism  or  to  the  host  ?  Many  investigators  have 
examined  the  bacteria  isolated  from  such  cases,  without  being 
able  to  establish  any  regular  or  constant  peculiarity  of  carrier 
organisms.  They  seem  to  vary  in  the  same  way  and  to  the  same 


DISEASES  PREVALENT  IN  THE  ARMY       295 

extent  in  their  cultural  and  serological  reactions  and  in  their 
virulence  for  animals  as  do  cultures  isolated  from  frank  cases 
of  disease. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  possible  ofttimes  to  find  differences  in 
the  host,  as  in  the  case  of  typhoid  carriers,  cholelithiasis,  or 
some  other  disease  process  in  the  gall  bladder  is  commonly 
present.  In  the  case  of  diphtheria  carrier  abnormalities  in  the 
tonsils  are  common.  We  find,  therefore,  that  the  weight  of 
evidence  is  to  the  effect  that  a  person  becomes  a  chronic  carrier 
because  of  some  more  or  less  well-marked  organic  pathological 
lesion  in  his  tody,  and  in  this  abnormal  tissue  the  invading 
organism  finds  favorable  conditions  for  a  purely  parasitic 
existence. 

It  was  due  to  the  presence  among  recruits  arriving  at  our 
camps  of  temporary  and  chronic  carriers,  as  well  as  cases,  that 
one  "after  another  of  the  acute  infectious  diseases  developed 
sooner  or  later  among  most  of  our  troops.  All  of  the  diseases 
of  childhood,  measles,  mumps,  scarlet  fever,  and  also  smallpox, 
typhoid,  dysentery  and  malaria  were  all  introduced  repeatedly, 
yet  only  the  first  spread,  as  we  had  no  method  of  rendering 
soldiers  immune  to  infection  by  vaccination  as  we  did  in  the 
case  of  smallpox  and  the  typhoid  fevers.  Except  for  their 
presence  in  such  large  numbers  and  their  complications,  there 
was  nothing  of  interest  in  these  diseases.  A  few  of  the  rarer 
infectious  diseases  are  of  more  interest  and  they  will  be  briefly 
discussed.  Trench  foot  was  distinctly  a  war  disease,  and  was 
due  to  the  urniatuTaTenvl ronment  in  which  troops  were  placed 
because  of  the  remarkable  development  of  the  system  of  trench 
warfare.  That  it  is  preventable  is  now  generally  accepted, 
and  we  suffered  relatively  little  from  it,  because  our  men  saw 
comparatively  little  of  trench  warfare,  and  because  of  the 
lessons  learned  from  the  experience  of  our  Allies.  It  consists 
of  more  or  less  damage  to  the  skin,  the  underlying  soft  tissues 
and  blood  vessels  of  the  feet  and  legs  from  prolonged  exposure 
to  wet  and  cold  in  tight  or  ill-fitting  boots  and  shoes.  The  skin 
is  bruised,  the  soft  parts  and  the  blood  vessels  are  constricted 


296  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

so  that  the  circulation  is  ultimately  shut  off  from  the  distal  part 
of  the  extremity.  With  the  failure  of  circulation  and  the  possi- 
bility of  infection  through  the  damaged  skin,  a  condition  of  dry 
or  moist  gangrene  develops  which  leads  to  serious  infection  or 
to  spontaneous  amputation  of  the  affected  part.  Operative 
procedures  were  always  necessary  to  secure  a  clean  stump  and 
to  prevent  the  spread  of  infection  up  the  limb.  The  largest 
number  of  cases  in  the  American  Army  occurred  during  the 
Argonne-Meuse  offensive  of  October  and  November,  1918, 
when  the  troops  were  fighting  continuously  day  after  day  and 
week  after  week  in  the  rain  and  mud  and  in  temporary  trenches, 
and  in  situations  where  it  was  impossible  to  provide  them  with 
dry  foot  wear  or  to  relieve  them  long  enough  for  them  to  dry 
out  their  own.  In  1918  we  had  1715  cases  reported,  giving 
a  rate  per  1000  of  0.68.  The  total  deaths  from  this  disease, 
however,  were  only  five.  Trench  mouth  is  another  new  term 
which  sprang  into  use  because  the  facilities  for  careful  and 
scientific  examination  of  new  cases  were  not  available.  The 
symptoms  were  those  of  sore  mouth,  shown  principally  by  red, 
tender  and  bleeding  gums,  with  more  or  less  involvement  of 
the  tonsils  and  the  mucous  membrane  of  the  cheeks.  The 
lesion  was,  therefore,  an  ulcerative  and  sometimes  pseudo- 
membranous  inflammation  of  the  mucous  membrane  of  the 
mouth  and  gums.  The  corresponding  lesion  of  the  tonsil  had 
long  been  known  as  Vincent's  angina,  and  that  condition  is 
always  associated  with  the  presence  of  the  spirillum  and  fusi- 
form bacillus  of  Vincent.  In  these  cases  of  sore  mouth  the  same 
microorganisms  were  found  to  be  regularly  present.  Whether 
they  are  the  primary  cause  or  merely  secondary  invaders  is  not 
well  established,  nor  is  the  manner  of  the  spread  of  the  disease 
well  known.  It  apparently  spreads  by  contact  from  soldier  to 
soldier  from  common  eating  utensils,  and  possibly  from  pipes 
or  contaminated  articles  of  food.  The  position  of  the  troops 
in  the  front  areas,  particularly  in  the  trenches  themselves,  made 
the  ordinary  principles  of  mouth  hygiene  impossible  of  execu- 


DISEASES  PREVALENT  IN  THE  ARMY       297 

tion  and  what  might  have  been  slight  infections  under  ordinary 
conditions  became  serious  ones. 

The  disease  yields  readily  to  treatment  and  as  soon  as  a  man 
could  be  sent  to  the  rear  to  a  dentist  he  could  soon  be  cured  by 
local  applications  of  dyes  and  caustics. 

The  disease  was  serious,  not  because  of  the  deaths,  for  there 
is  practically  no  mortality,  but  because  it  produced  a  consider- 
able number  of  invalids,  each  requiring  care  and  treatment 
from  the  medical  personnel.  The  disease  is  not  a  new  one,  and 
there  is  no  justification  for  the  term  "  Trench  Mouth."  It  is 
an  ulcerative  or  pseudo-membranous  gingivitis,  when  confined 
to  the  gums,  or  stomatitis  when  the  mucous  membrane  of  the 
mouth  is  involved  or  tonsilitis  or  pharyngitis;  in  the  last  two 
locations  the  condition  is  commonly  referred  to  as  Vincent's 
Angina. 

INFECTIOUS   JAUNDICE    (SPIROCHETAL   JAUNDICE) 

This  disease,  long  known  as  Weil's  Disease,  was  the  cause  of 
illness  in  78  men,  of  whom  five  died.  Numerically,  therefore, 
it  is  quite  unimportant,  but  because  of  its  interesting  epi- 
demiology it  deserves  a  few  words.  It  is  caused  by  the  Spiro- 
cheta  ictero-hemorrhagica,  a  common  parasite  of  rats  which 
was  first  described  by  Inada  and  Ido  in  Japan  in  1915.  The 
infection  is  characterized  by  irregular  fever,  well  marked 
jaundice  which  usually  appears  about  the  fourth  day  of  the 
disease,  a  tendency  to  hemorrhages  from  the  mucous  surfaces 
and  into  the  tissues  and  hemorrhagic  herpes  or  fever  sores. 

The  disease  occurred  in  small  epidemics  at  various  times 
and  places  in  the  armies  of  our  Allies,  the  British,  French  and 
Italian,  and  the  few  cases  occurring  among  our  troops  may  have 
had  some  connection  with  these.  The  Japanese  noted  that  the 
epidemics  were  limited  to  small  groups,  such  as  a  family  or  a 
small  group  of  soldiers  in  barracks;  in  mines,  for  example,  it 
would  be  limited  to  the  workers  in  a  certain  part  of  the  mine. 

The  spirochete  is  exceedingly  small  and  delicate,  and  about 


298  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

the  same  size  as  the  spirochete  of  syphilis,  from  which,  how- 
ever, it  is  easily  distinguished  by  the  beaded  appearance  of  the 
body  and  the  hooked  ends.  In  suitable  preparations  it  is  seen 
to  be  actively  motile.  The  motion  is  both  that  of  rotation, 
undulation  and  progression.  It  has  been  cultivated  in  test 
tubes  using  the  methods  which  Noguchi  elaborated  for  the  study 
of  the  spirochete  of  syphilis,  and  from  these  cultures  the  disease 
has  been  reproduced  in  animals,  particularly  in  the  guinea  pig. 

The  diagnosis  of  the  disease  was  more  successfully  made  by 
demonstrating  the  presence  of  the  spirochete.  This  was  done 
by  injecting  a  few  cubic  centimeters  of  blood  from  a  patient, 
preferably  the  first  four  or  five  days  of  the  disease,  into  the 
peritoneal  cavity  of  a  guinea  pig,  where  it  multiplies  rapidly 
and  its  presence  can  be  demonstrated.  It  is  rarely  present  in 
the  blood  of  the  human  being  in  sufficient  numbers  to  permit 
of  its  demonstration  without  this  enrichment  in  the  guinea  pig. 
Later  in  the  course  of  the  disease,  from  the  tenth  to  the  fortieth 
day,  the  organism  can  be  found  in  the  urine  by  direct  examina- 
tion of  centrifuged  specimens.  This  is  analogous  to  what 
occurs  in  the  natural  infection  in  the  rat,  as  the  organism  has 
been  found  in  the  urine  of  apparently  healthy  rats,  both  house 
and  field,  in  as  high  as  30  per  cent,  of  those  examined.  This  is 
true  in  Japan,  on  the  French  front,  and  also  in  certain  places 
in  America,  where  the  rats  have  been  examined. 

It  is  possible  to  produce  the  disease  in  guinea  pigs  by  giving 
them  food  contaminated  with  cultures  of  urine  containing  the 
spirochetes,  and  presumably  the  epidemiology  of  the  disease  in 
the  human  being  is  explainable  in  the  same  manner. 

Weil's  disease,  which  occurs  sporadically  in  all  countries,  has 
been  a  mystery  in  the  past,  but  thanks  to  the  investigation^  of 
the  Japanese,  which  have  been  fully  confirmed  during  the 
World  War,  its  epidemiology  is  now  quite  clear. 

ANTHRAX 


During  1918  there  were  129  cases  of  anthrax  reported  among 
all  troops  of  the  army,  giving  an  admission  rate  of  0.05  per 


DISEASES  PREVALENT  IN  THE  ARMY       299 

thousand  of  strength.  Among  these  there  were  23  deaths  from 
the  disease,  making  a  rate  of  o.oi  per  1000.  It  was  distinctly 
a  war-time  disease  with  us,  since  in  times  of  peace  the  disease 
is  "practically  non-existant  in  the  service.  It  was  early  noted 
that  the  initial  lesion  of  the  disease,  that  is,  the  place  where  the 
infectious  material  gained  entrance  to  the  body,  was  on  the 
shaving  area  of  the  face.  Although  many  of  the  men  billeted 
in  stables  and  in  buildings  which  had  been  used  for  animals, 
and  in  this  country  they  were  housed  in  buildings  recently 
erected  on  ground  used  for  animal  shelters  of  one  sort  or 
another,  it  is  improbable  that  these  facts  were  of  any  importance 
in  explaining  the  presence  of  the  cause  of  the  disease,  since  the 
lesion  was  so  uniformly  located  on  the  shaving  area  of  the 
face.  This  fact  led  to  the  critical  examination  of  the  articles 
used  in  shaving.  Naturally  the  brush,  being  made  of  animal 
hair,  came  first  under  suspicion,  and  bacteriological  examina- 
tions soon  were  successful  in  showing  the  presence  of  the  spores 
of  anthrax  on  the  hair.  Uniform  reports  came  from  all  parts 
of  the  country  and  left  little  doubt  but  that  the  troops  were 
being  furnished  by  the  Quartermaster  with  infected  brushes. 
On  the  recommendation  of  the  Surgeon  General,  the  issue  of 
the  brushes  in  stock  in  all  depots  was  suspended  until  they 
could  be  examined  and  disinfected.  In  the  meantime,  the 
United  States  Public  Health  Service  was  informed  of  the  un- 
usual prevalence  of  the  disease,  and  was  requested  to  institute 
an  inspection  service  of  the  factories  furnishing  shaving  brushes 
to  the  army,  and  to  make  recommendations  regarding  those 
whose  output  it  was  safe  to  purchase.  The  Public  Health 
Service  reported  that  previous  to  the  war  most  of  the  cheaper 
grades  of  shaving  brushes  were  produced  in  Germany,  and  that 
the  German  manufacturers  were  accustomed  to  using  hair  from 
Siberia,  Manchuria  and  China,  and  knew  that  it  needed  radical 
disinfection.  In  this  country,  when  the  customary  source  of 
supply  was  cut  off,  brush  factories  of  every  sort,  including  those 
which  had  never  before  produced  anything  but  paint  brushes, 
began  the  manufacture  of  shaving  brushes,  without  any  idea 


300  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

of  the  possible  danger  which  might  arise  from  using  the  im- 
perfect methods  which  had  sufficed  for  other  classes  of  brushes. 
Hair  of  several  kinds  of  animals  was  used,  but  all  varieties, 
except  horse  hair,  had  to  be  boiled  to  straighten  the  bristle,  and 
this  boiling  sterilized  automatically  all  hair  except  the  horse 
hair,  and  that  alone  was  found  capable  of  carrying  infection. 
The  factory  inspection  soon  led  to  the  use  of  correct  methods 
and  the  new  brushes  purchased  were  safe.  Since  a  large  num- 
ber had  been  produced  and  sold  to  the  army  and  to  civilians, 
a  few  cases  continued  to  appear,  but  in  decreasing  numbers. 

A  review  of  the  experience  of  the  French  and  British  showed 
that  they  had  gone  through  an  exactly  similar  experience  and 
had  our  own  manufacturers  and  authorities  been  closely  in 
touch  with  foreign  conditions  we  might  have  been  spared  the 
129  cases  and  25  deaths  from  this  preventable  disease. 

GASEOUS   GANGRENE 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  there  was  much  confusion  re- 
garding the  nature  of  this  affection.  One  group  of  workers 
who  had  isolated  the  Vibrion  septique  from  cases  believed  that 
to  be  the  cause  of  the  disease;  another  group,  on  finding  the 
bacillus  of  Welch  considered  that  organism  responsible.  Other 
workers  from  time  to  time  isolated  still  other  organisms.  The 
entire  subject  was  investigated  thoroughly  during  the  war  by 
bacteriologists  of  the  Allied  nations,  and  at  the  present  time 
they  have  practically  agreed  that  there  are  eight  different 
anaerobic  bacteria  which  are  capable  of  producing  gaseous 
gangrene  in  both  man  and  animals,  and  that  they  may  be 
arranged  in  their  order  of  importance  as  follows :  ( i )  B.  welchi 
(gas  bacillus,  B.  aerogenes  capsulatus,  B.  perfringens,  B. 
phlegmonis  emphysematosse.)  (2)  Vibrion  septique  (B.  of 
malignant  cedema,  B.  chauvei,  B.  symptomatic  anthrax,  von 
Hibler  III,  B.  septicus.)  (3)  B.  cedematiens  (B.  gasoedem, 
B.  bellonensis,  B.  novyii.)  (4)  B.  fallax.  (5)  B.  histolyticus. 
(6)  B.  sporogenes  (B.  enteritidis  sporagenes,  B.  faulnis  erre- 
ger.)  (7)  B.  aerofetidus.  (8)  Streptococcus  anerobius. 


DISEASES  PREVALENT  IN  THE  ARMY       301 

In  addition  there  are  a  fairly  large  number  of  other  organ- 
isms which  have  been  isolated  from  wounds  of  human  beings 
showing  gas  gangrene,  but  which  have  not  the  power  of  pro- 
ducing the  disease  in  animals. 

Jablons  reports  that  the  following  organisms  are  capable  of 
producing  a  toxin  and  of  progressive  tissue  necrosis  and  irre- 
parable damage  to  the  central  nervous  system :  B.  welchi, 
Vibrona  septique,  B.  cedematiens,  B.  fallax,  B.  histolyticus,  and 
B.  sporogenes.  Against  all  but  fallax  and  sporogenes  it  has 
been  possible  to  produce  anti-toxic  sera  for  the  treatment  of 
the  disease. 

Most  of  these  organisms  have  been  isolated  from  the  soil, 
and  as  the  troops  in  the  trenches  had  their  clothing  constantly 
coated  with  mud  or  dust,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  soil  organisms 
would  be  carried  into  the  wounds  on  fragments  of  clothing. 
They  are  commoner  in  soil  which  is  polluted  with  excrement 
or  heavily  manured.  As  the  soil  of  Flanders  and  most  of  the 
western  front  has  been  under  intensive  cultivation  for  centuries, 
all  the  conditions  favorable  for  the  development  of  gas  gan- 
grene were  present. 

The  bacilli  exert  their  damaging  action  very  largely  in  the 
muscles ;  the  fibres  swell  and  quickly  undergo  necrosis  with  the 
development  of  bubbles  of  gas  between  the  fibres.  The  quan- 
tity of  gas  is  sometimes  large  enough  to  be  felt  as  a  cracking 
sensation  as  the  hand  is  passed  over  the  skin. 

The  treatment  of  gas  gangrene  is  primarily  surgical  and 
consists  of  complete  extirpation  of  the  necrotic  and  infected 
wound  down  to  healthy  tissue.  This  radical  treatment  is 
usually  referred  to  as  debridement.  In  addition  anti-gas  gan- 
grene serum  is  used,  both  as  a  prophylactic  measure  and  for 
treatment  of  recognized  cases. 

Anti-gas  gangrene  serum.  Bull,  at  the  Rockefeller  Institute, 
was  successful  in  preparing  an  anti-toxin  against  the  B.  welchi, 
one  of  the  most  important  of  the  gas  gangrene  organisms.  He 
made  use  of  an  observation  of  Flexner's,  that  the  bacillus  of 
Welch  was  capable  of  producing  lesions  in  pigeons  quite  com- 


302  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

parable  to  those  found  in  man.  He  soon  learned  that  he  could 
obtain  a  toxin  from  his  broth  cultures  which  produced  a 
necrosis  of  muscle  when  injected  into  the  pigeons,  and  that 
he  could  produce  an  anti-toxin  by  appropriate  methods  of 
immunization  of  larger  animals  with  the  toxin,  and  that  this 
new  found  anti-toxin  would  neutralize  the  toxin  both  in  test 
tube  and  in  the  body  of  the  pigeon.  The  hope  that  was  raised 
by  this  discovery  that  a  cure  for  gas  gangrene  had  been  found 
was  short  lived,  for  it  soon  became  evident  that  the  bacillus 
of  Welch  was  only  one  of  many  organisms  capable  of  producing 
the  disease,  and  that  further  anti-toxins  must  be  prepared 
before  much  could  be  done.  At  the  close  of  the  war  it  had 
become  possible  to  produce  several  other  anti-toxins  by  using 
the  same  methods  which  had  been  elaborated  by  Bull,  and  the 
commercial  manufacturers  were  ready  to  furnish  a  polyvalent 
anti-gas  gangrene  serum.  The  plans  called  for  a  single  serum, 
made  either  from  one  horse,  or  by  mixing  the  sera  from  several 
horses,  which  would  contain  anti-toxin  for  the  tetanus  bacillus, 
and  the  three  principal  gas  producing  anaerobes.  Anti-toxic 
serum  against  tetanus  and  B.  welchi  had  already  been  manu- 
factured in  considerable  quantity  and  was  available  for  use 
during  the  offensive  in  the  Argonne.  Fortunately  the  Armis- 
tice intervened  and  no  further  research,  because  of  war  wounds, 
was  necessary. 

Although  gas  gangrene  is  present  from  time  to  time  in  civil 
practice,  particularly  in  wounds  due  to  industrial  accidents,  it 
has  never  been  a  common  condition.  In  the  past,  unless  com- 
plete surgical  treatment  was  given  early,  the  cases  were  quite 
hopeless.  The  experiences  of  the  war  have  made  it  possible, 
therefore,  to  make  provision  for  these  sporadic  cases,  which, 
in  total  numbers,  are  quite  considerable,  although  a  single 
physician  rarely  sees  many  of  them. 

PNEUMONIA 

The  history  of  the  diseases  of  the  lung  is  as  old  as  anything 
in  human  medicine,  and  yet  much  less  progress  has  been  made 


DISEASES  PREVALENT  IN  THE  ARMY       303 

in  their  study  during  recent  years  than  in  the  diseases  of  the 
digestive  tract,  or  in  the  tropical  diseases  or  in  several  other 
categories  of  diseases.  The  reason  for  this  is  not  perfectly 
plain,  but  it  is  perhaps  because  all  these  are  diseases  of  human 
beings  alone,  having  nothing  in  common  with  the  diseases  of 
animals  or  with  those  carried  by  insects  or  other  hosts,  and 
for  this  reason  are  not  easily  made  the  subject  of  experimental 
research  on  laboratory  animals.  In  addition,  the  respiratory 
diseases  are  the  most  common  of  all  human  ailments,  and  most 
of  them  are  so  trivial  that  they  have  not  received  the  study  and 
attention  that  have  been  given  to  more  fatal  maladies.  Very 
few  of  us  give  much  consideration  to  a  common  cold  and  yet 
in  the  mystery  of  the  common  cold  may  lie  the  secret  of  many 
of  the  acute  infections  of  the  respiratory  system. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  war  there  was  every  reason  for 
expecting  a  considerable  number  of  cases  and  deaths  from  pneu- 
monias, since  that  had  been  the  experience  of  the  Civil  War, 
and  in  civil  life  the  percentage  of  deaths  due  to  lobar  pneumonia 
has  been  relatively  increasing  during  recent  decades  as  the  more 
easily  preventable  diseases  decreased.  An  orderly  understand- 
ing of  acute  lobar  pneumonia  had  also  been  arrived  at  through 
the  work  of  Rufus  Cole,  Avary,  Dochez,  Chickering,  and 
others  at  the  Rockefeller  Hospital,  New  York.  The  work 
began  some  years  ago,  about  1913,  in  fact,  but  the  subject  was 
complicated  and  difficult  and  progress,  although  steady,  was 
slow.  In  the  end,  however,  these  investigators  showed  that 
the  organisms  which  cause  lobar  pneumonia  may  be  grouped 
into  four  classes,  which  they  have  designated  as  types  one, 
two,  three  and  four.  The  first  three  of  the  types  are  fixed 
and  are  readily  identified  by  agglutination  and  precipitin  tests 
and  by  some  other  biological  and  cultural  tests.  The  fourth 
type,  however,  is  made  up  of  the  irregular  organisms  which 
do  not  fall  into  any  one  of  the  first  three  types.  The  fixed 
types  are  clear  cut  homogeneous  groups  made  up  of  similar 
individuals,  while  the  fourth  type  consists  of  a  large  number  of 
irregular  organisms  which  bear  no  relation  to  the  other  groups, 


304  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

nor  to  one  another  in  their  own  group.  In  fact,  they  resemble 
in  this  the  organisms  found  in  the  normal,  healthy  human 
mouth.  From  a  study  of  these  clearly  defined  types  it  has 
been  possible  to  prepare  a  serum  which  is  curative  when  given 
sufficiently  early  in  the  disease,  for  the  lobar  pneumonia  caused 
by  organisms  of  type  one.  Similar  curative  sera  have  not  yet 
been  prepared  for  the  other  types.  In  a  study  of  454  cases 
of  pneumonia  at  the  Rockefeller  Hospital,  it  was  learned  that 
about  one-third  of  all  cases  are  caused  by  type  one,  a  second 
third  by  type  two,  about  13  per  cent,  of  type  three  and  the 
remainder,  20  per  cent.,  by  type  four  organisms.  We  have 
then,  a  specific  treatment  for  about  one-third  of  all  cases  of 
lobar  pneumonia.  The  mortality  of  this  type  of  the  disease  is 
normally  about  twenty-five  per  cent.,  but  under  treatment  with 
serum  in  suitable  surroundings  the  mortality  may  be  reduced 
to  ten  per  cent.  This  treatment  was  rapidly  gaining  ground, 
but,  like  other  new  things  in  medicine,  had  not  yet  become 
generally  accepted  through  the  country,  and  very  few  hospitals 
or  physicians  were  prepared  to  make  the  bacteriological  diag- 
nosis or  to  apply  the  indicated  treatment.  To  provide  for  this 
condition,  classes  of  otherwise  well-trained  bacteriologists  and 
clinicians  were  organized  in  our  principal  hospitals  and  labora- 
tories, and  systematic  courses  of  instruction  were  given. 
Several  hundreds  of  the  younger  medical  officers  passed  through 
the  Army  Auxiliary  Laboratory  No.  One  at  the  Rockefeller 
Institute  and  the  Yale  Army  Laboratory  School  at  New  Haven. 
When  these  men  were  distributed  to  our  large  base  hospitals 
they  in  turn  organized  schools  for  special  instruction  of  the 
staffs  in  the  diagnosis  and  treatment  of  the  diseases  of  the 
lungs,  including  tuberculosis,  of  empyema,  and  of  cerebro- 
spinal  meningitis,  and  of  the  other  commoner  epidemic  diseases. 
Nothing  in  the  medical  history  was  more  inspiring  than  the 
spirit  and  energy  with  which  our  men  undertook  the  study  and 
systematic  investigation  of  the  important  problems  which  con- 
fronted them.  The  greatest  of  all  the  new  fields  was  in  the 
respiratory  diseases  which  were  unusually  common,  quite  severe 


DISEASES  PREVALENT  IN  THE  ARMY       305 

and  the  cause  of  tremendous  loss  of  life,  and  of  training  time 
of  those  who  recovered.  Even  had  the  appalling  epidemic 
of  influenza  not  occurred  it  would  still  remain  true  that  the 
respiratory  diseases  were  the  most  important  group  with  which 
we  had  to  contend. 

When  the  troops  assembled  in  the  Fall  of  1917,  men  from 
the  cities  and  from  the  country  district  were  brought  together 
in  intimate  association  in  our  training  camps,  and  the  carriers 
of  disease  germs  quite  early  infected  those  who  were  susceptible, 
with  first  one  and  then  another  of  the  acute  infectious  diseases; 
those  which  we  are  ordinarily  in  the  habit  of  calling  the  diseases 
of  childhood.  Of  these  measles  was  the  first  to  appear,  and  it 
passed  through  first  one  camp  and  then  another  until  prac- 
tically all  the  susceptible  material  was  exhausted.  It  seemed 
quite  impossible  to  prevent  its  spread  when  introduced  into  an 
organization,  although  a  great  deal  was  accomplished  in  modify- 
ing its  severity  and  in  preventing  its  complications.  During 
1917,  32  per  cent,  of  all  deaths  were  due  to  this  disease,  and 
it  caused  a  mortality  of  1.7  per  thousand  of  the  strength  of 
the  army.  In  1918  there  were  fewer  cases.  In  the  American 
Expeditionary  Forces  the  disease  was  constantly  present,  but 
it  never  assumed  the  proportions  of  an  epidemic  as  it  did  in 
the  United  States,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  troops  sent 
overseas  were  relatively  seasoned,  or  salted  as  the  British  say, 
when  speaking  of  troops  which  had  already  acquired  an  im- 
munity to  the  diseases  of  childhood.  For  the  two  years  of  the 
war  there  were  98,606  cases,  and  2455  deaths.  In  spite  of 
these  large  figures,  we  know  that  the  disease  was  less  serious 
as  a  military  difficulty  than  during  the  Civil  War.  Had  the 
same  rates  prevailed  as  in  1861  and  62  there  would  have  been 
184,918  cases  and  6649  deaths. 

Measles  is  always  a  serious  disease  and  is  the  cause  of  a 
large  mortality  among  children  every  year,  especially  in  our 
large  cities,  and  it  deserves  more  study  and  research  than  has 
been  given  it.  We  made  several  attempts  to  unravel  the  riddle 
of  the  disease,  but  without  success,  and  we  are  to-day  in  no 


306  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

better  position  to  prevent  its  spread  than  before  the  war.  The 
single  improvement,  if  such  it  can  be  called,  is  in  our  present 
appreciation  of  its  importance,  and  of  the  necessity  for  further 
research,  as  to  its  cause,  in  order  that  we  may  have  knowledge 
to  prevent  or  at  least  to  control  its  spread,  most  probably  by 
the  discovery  of  a  suitable  vaccine. 

Simple,  uncomplicated  measles  is  probably  a  mild  and  almost 
harmless  infection,  but  unfortunately  complications  are  common 
and  severe,  the  most  important  being  pneumonia.  In  this  war 
the  pneumonia  was  studied  as  have  been  the  ordinary  or  lobar 
pneumonias,  and  it  was  early  learned  that  the  inflammation  of 
the  lung  was  of  quite  a  different  character;  that  is,  was  ordi- 
narily caused  by  the  type  four  pneumococci,  or  even  more 
frequently  by  the  haemolytic  streptococcus.  The  last  named, 
organism  is  the  cause  of  some  forms  of  septicemia,  of  erysipelas, 
of  puerperal  fever,  and  of  many  wound  infections,  all  these 
conditions  being  serious  and  often  fatal.  The  pneumonias 
caused  by  this  organism  were  frequently  complicated  with 
empyema,  and  were  very  fatal.  Many  studies  of  the  complica- 
tions of  measles  were  made  in  all  our  larger  camps  where  the 
disease  prevailed,  by  the  foremost  investigators  of  the  country, 
and  the  importance  of  the  disease,  from  a  military  standpoint 
was  realized  as  never  before,  and  we  may  reasonably  expect 
some  solution  of  the  riddle  of  the  disease,  provided  the  science 
of  bacteriology  and  of  immunology  is  sufficiently  far  advanced 
to  furnish  us  with  a  workable  technique  for  its  study.  At  the 
present  time  the  chief  stumbling  block  is  the  practical  impossi- 
bility of  producing  the  disease  in  animals.  This  limits  the 
experimental  work  which  can  be  done  quite  sharply. 

INFLUENZA  AND  ITS  COMPLICATIONS 

Pestilences  of  one  kind  or  another  are  popularly  supposed  to 
follow  upon  the  heels  of  war,  and  history  does  indeed  show 
many  such  associations,  as,  when,  for  example,  smallpox  spread 
through  France  during  the  Franco-Prussian  War,  and  through 


DISEASES  PREVALENT  IN  THE  ARMY       307 

Germany  soon  after  peace  was  signed.  In  our  own  Spanish 
War  we  were  assailed  with  a  plague  of  typhoid  fever,  which 
left  its  imprint  upon  our  civil  death  rate  for  years  after  1898. 
A  recurrence  of  either  of  these  diseases  had  been  rendered  im- 
possible by  the  general  practice  of  vaccination  against  them. 
Indeed  it  would  not  be  an  exaggeration  to  affirm  that  the  war 
could  not  have  lasted  as  long  as  it  did,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
success  of  the  vaccination  program  in  all  the  armies  involved, 
including  those  of  the  Central  Powers.  No  one  ventured  to 
prophesy  that  influenza  would  be  the  scourge  of  this  war, 
although  it  would  not  have  been  illogical.  It  is  a  very  old  and 
well  known  although  little  understood  disease.  Since  the  fif- 
teenth century  we  have  had  periodical  pandemic  waves  of  the 
disease,  extending  to  the  remotest  points  of  the  world.  The 
interval  between  epidemics  has  usually  been  twenty  or  thirty 
years.  The  last  preceding  world  epidemic  was  in  1900.  It  is 
characteristic  of  the  disease  that  it  travels  as  fast  as  the  modes 
of  human  transportation  permit,  remains  at  any  one  place  for 
little  more  than  a  month  and  then  passes  on  to  new  regions 
until  it  has  reached  the  most  remote  corners  of  the  civilized 
world.  The  long  interval  between  epidemics  makes  it  inevitable 
that  each  new  epidemic  must  be  studied  by  a  new  group  of 
investigators.  It  takes  the  men  an  appreciable  time  to  learn  the 
difficult  technique  which  is  necessary,  and  before  many  have 
acquired  proficiency  the  disease,  and  with  it  the  opportunity  for 
its  investigation,  has  passed.  Pfeiffer  did  not  discover  the 
influenza  bacillus  until  1902,  two  years  after  the  crest  of  the 
epidemic  had  passed,  and  for  this  reason  many  skeptics  doubted 
if  he  was  dealing  with  the  true  epidemic  disease. 

In  this  visitation,  the  disease  was  called  the  Spanish  Influ- 
enza, an  old  name,  since  several  times  before  the  disease  has 
first  been  recognized  in  that  country.  Almost  as  often  it  has 
been  called  the  Italian  influenza.  The  epidemic  of  1900  came 
out  of  Russia  and  was  commonly  called  La  Grippe. 

There  is  really  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  has  always  been  the 


308  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

same  disease,  although  the  laboratory  proof  is  still  lacking,  be- 
cause the  clinical  course  of  an  attack  of  the  disease  is  so  charac- 
teristic. 

What  is  the  history  of  influenza  in  inter-epidemic  years? 
In  the  absence  of  complete  proof  it  is  impossible  to  be  sure 
about  it,  yet  the  most  commonly  accepted  belief  is  that  the 
disease  is  always  with  us,  as  the  ordinary  influenza,  a  form  of 
common  cold,  but  that  only  under  exceptional  circumstances 
does  it  become  virulent  and  cause  any  appreciable  mortality. 
Dr.  Welch  showed  years  ago  that  the  influenza  bacillus  could 
be  recovered  frequently  at  autopsy  from  the  cavities  in  tuber- 
culous lungs.  Others  have  shown  its  presence  in  chronic  dis- 
eases of  the  sinuses  accessory  to  the  nose  and  throat.  In  other 
words,  the  causative  organism  is  regularly  present,  but  of  low 
virulence,  and  it  does  not  prove  sufficiently  fatal  to  cause  an 
appreciable  influence  on  the  annual  mortality  curves.  Why 
some  diseases,  such  as  infantile  paralysis  and  influenza,  should 
suddenly  become  extremely  virulent  and  produce  wide-spread 
epidemics  we  do  not  now  know.  During  the  war  it  is  probable 
that  it  obeyed  the  same  law  as  measles,  and  spread  among  our 
soldiers  because  they  were  young,  many  of  them  from  the 
country  districts,  and,  therefore,  not  immune  to  the  infection. 
As  the  conditions  were  ideal  for  the  rapid  passage  of  the  virus 
from  man  to  man,  it  is  concluded  that  there  was  a  steady 
increase  in  virulence,  until  the  virus  was  capable  of  causing 
a  very  severe  and  fatal  illness. 

During  the  last  four  months  of  1917,  when  the  camps  were 
filled  with  recruits,  there  were  reported  40,512  cases  of  influ- 
enza, yet  it  was  not  noted  as  a  severe  disease,  and  it  was  not 
apparently  followed  by  pneumonia  to  any  serious  extent.  In 
the  Winter  and  Spring  of  1918,  particularly  in  January,  March 
and  April,  many  cases  of  influenza  were  again  reported,  as  well 
as  many  fatal  cases  of  pneumonia.  It  was  not  until  the  Fall, 
however,  during  September  and  October,  that  it  was  recognized 
that  the  fatal  epidemic  form  of  influenza  was  present,  and  that 
pneumonia  was  reported  as  a  frequent  and  fatal  complication. 


DISEASES  PREVALENT  IN  THE  ARMY       309 

The  particular  strain  of  the  virus  responsible  for  this  seems  to 
have  been  brought  to  Boston  from  Brest,  the  first  week  in  Sep- 
tember. From  Boston  and  Camp  Devens  the  disease  spread 
as  rapidly  as  human  beings  travel  to  all  parts  of  the  United 
States.  The  further  history  of  this  virus  we  do  not  know, 
and  we  may  indeed  never  be  able  to  trace  it.  We  know  the 
disease  in  a  mild  form  was  present  in  our  camps  from  the  be- 
ginning, and  that  our  troops  presumably  carried  it  with  them 
wherever  they  went.  We  know  that  the  French  had  a  similar 
experience  with  their  own  colonial  troops,  and  it  is  probable 
that  the  experience  of  all  the  warring  nations  was  the  same. 
From  a  military  point  of  view  one  is  justified  in  saying  that 
travel  was  free  and  uninterrupted  from  the  ends  of  the  world 
to  the  seat  of  the  war  in  France.  Troops  from  all  the  world 
were  poured  in  daily  and  a  returning  stream  of  wounded,  sick 
and  broken  down  men,  returned  to  the  home  countries  and 
carried  with  them  the  germs  of  any  respiratory  infection  to 
which  they  had  been  exposed.  The  virulent  virus,  therefore, 
wherever  it  first  arose  was  soon  carried  across  the  battle  lines, 
to  friend  and  foe,  to  the  lines  of  communication  in  the  rear  of 
the  battle  areas,  and  finally  by  ships,  from  port  to  port. 

It  stands  as  one  of  the  most  fatal  pestilences  of  history.  For 
1918  there  were  reported  688,869  cases  in  the  American  Army. 
This  gives  a  rate  of  273  cases  per  thousand  men.  The  number 
of  deaths  charged  directly  to  influenza  was  23,007,  giving  a  rate 
per  thousand  of  population  of  9.14.  In  addition  to  this  number 
of  deaths,  there  were  431  charged  to  bronchitis,  6814  to 
broncho-pneumonia,  8407  to  lobar  pneumonia,  and  405  to  pneu- 
monia unclassified,  262  to  pleurisy,  330  to  various  respiratory 
diseases,  a  great  many  of  which  should,  no  doubt,  have  been 
charged  to  influenza.  If  these  deaths  are  added  together  it 
would  give  a  total  of  39,701  out  of  a  strength  of  2,518,499 
during  the  year,  a  rate  of  approximately  15.75  per  looo  of 
population.  The  total  deaths  for  the  army  for  the  year  from 
disease  amounted  to  47,384.  Approximately  82  per  cent,  of 
all  deaths  were,  therefore,  caused  by  diseases  of  the  respiratory 


310  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

tract.  If  we  deduct  this  respiratory  rate  of  15.75  from  the 
total  rate  for  disease,  it  would  leave  the  exceedingly  low  rate 
of  3.07  for  all  others. 

We  may  conclude,  therefore,  with  this  evidence,  that  it  is 
possible  to  prevent  deaths,  under  conditions  of  mobilization  and 
warfare,  from  all  diseases  except  the  respiratory;  that  so  far 
as  such  diseases  are  concerned  we  have  advanced  but  little,  and 
that  the  field  for  future  investigation  and  research  for  all  con- 
cerned in  public  health  and  medicine  lies  in  the  diseases  of  the 
respiratory  tract. 

Some  progress  has  already  been  made ;  secondary  pneumonias 
from  the  haemolytic  streptococcus  are  now  recognized  and 
methods  for  their  control  are  now  available.  There  are  those 
Who  believe  that  epidemic  influenza,  and  the  influenza  of  inter- 
epidemic  years,  is  caused  by  the  bacillus  of  influenza,  but  even 
so,  there  does  not  seem  to  be  at  the  moment  of  writing  any 
method  of  preventing  an  epidemic  which  has  once  started. 
This  is,  perhaps,  the  greatest  of  the  public  health  problems  at 
present  awaiting  solution. 


Y 


XVIII 

ADVANCES  IN  SURGERY  DURING  THE  WAR 
JOHN  W.  HANNER 

WHILE  there  has  been  nothing  startling  or  revolutionary 
in  the  surgical  art  as  a  result  of  the  recent  great  war, 
substantial  and  valuable  gains  in  the  surgical  field  have  marked 
the  progress  of  surgeons  of  all  nationalities  through  the  multi- 
plicity of  conditions  met  with,  and  valuable  knowledge  for 
future  use  has  been  stored  up  in  the  literature. 

Perhaps  the  outstanding  and  most  spectacular  achievement, 
one  that  shortened  the  period  of  disability  greatly  and  resulted 
in  the  early  return  of  the  soldier  to  the  fighting  line,  as  well  as 
prevented  large,  mutilating  and  often  disabling  scars  and  con- 
tractures,  was  the  early  closure  of  wounds,  after  thorough 
excision  and  cleansing  of  the  lacerated,  devitalized  tissue  found 
in  and  around  the  track  of  the  projectile,  a  procedure  called  by 
the  French  "  debridement." 

This  excision  of  tissue  and  immediate  closure  of  a  wound  is 
successful  only  when  it  can  be  done  within  a  short  period  after 
the  receipt  of  the  wound,  usually  given  as  eight  to  twelve  hours. 
As  a  rule,  when  a  longer  time  has  intervened,  infection  of  the 
wound  has  already  gained  such  headway  and  has  become  so 
widespread,  since  the  organisms  have  had  time  to  multiply  and 
penetrate  into  the  surrounding  tissue,  that  it  is  unsafe  to  close 
the  wound  immediately.  In  such  cases,  it  has  been  found  safer 
to  delay  the  suture  of  the  wound  for  two  or  three  days,  when 
in  favorable  cases  it  can  be  closed  without  fear  of  future  in- 
fection ;  or  to  employ  antiseptics  to  combat  and  limit  the  infec- 
tion ;  or  to  use  simple  drainage,  as  was  formerly  done,  until  the 


312  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

infection  is  controlled,  after  which  a  freshening  of  the  edges 
of  the  wound  can  be  done  and  a  secondary  closure,  perhaps 
after  two  or  three  weeks,  be  successfully  performed.  The  suc- 
cess of  early  closure  of  wounds  depends,  then,  on  getting  the 
wounded  man  to  a  surgical  formation  as  soon  after  being 
wounded  as  possible ;  for  the  earlier  a  wound  has  surgical  treat- 
ment, the  greater  the  chance  of  success  in  immediate  closure, 
when  the  wound,  after  thorough  excision  of  the  injured  tissues, 
behaves  as  does  a  clean  wound  made  by  a  surgeon  in  ordinary 
civil  operating,  healing  taking  place  without  any  complicating 
suppuration.  This  necessity  of  early  surgical  treatment  was 
met  by  improved  methods  of  evacuating  the  wounded  from  the 
battlefield  and  by  moving  the  surgical  hospitals  and  operating 
teams  as  far  forward  as  safety  of  the  wounded  permitted,  in 
order  to  shorten  the  haul  to  the  place  where  surgical  aid  was 
available.  Constant  improvement  along  these  lines  resulted 
in  the  reception  of  the  wounded  and  operation  upon  them  within 
an  average  time,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  of  six  to  eight  hours 
after  the  receipt  of  the  wound. 

It  had  been  hoped  that  the  incidence  of  infection  of  war 
wounds  would  be  less  than  had  occurred  in  former  wars,  due 
to  the  use  of  the  so-called  '*  humane/'  small  caliber,  high 
velocity  bullet  of  the  modern  military  rifle.  But,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  such  did  not  prove  the  case  since,  especially  as  the  war 
progressed,  the  number  of  those  wounded  by  the  small  bullet 
was  a  small  percentage  only.  The  great  majority  in  the  later 
stages  of  the  war  showed  wounds  from  shell  fragments  of  the 
high  explosive  shell,  which  was  used  more  and  more  as  the 
number  of  field  guns  and  long  range  cannon  increased,  and  such 
wounds  were  invariably  potentially  infected.  Wounds  from 
shell  fragments  are  torn,  jagged  and  lacerated,  and  the  mass 
of  macerated,  devitalized  tissue  surrounding  the  track  of  the 
projectile  is  increased.  Hence  debridement  or  total  excision  of 
this  injured  tissue  is  rendered  more  difficult,  and  requires  much 
patience  and  painstaking  care  to  insure 'that  all  of  the  bruised 
and  infected  tissue  is  entirely  removed,  for  this  is  essential  to 


ADVANCES  IN  SURGERY  DURING  THE  WAR     313 

the  success  of  immediate  closure.  Added  to  this  was  the  fact 
that  the  soil  of  the  western  battle  front,  in  Belgium  and  North- 
ern France,  had  for  many  generations  been  intensively  culti- 
vated, and  manure  and  human  dejecta  had  been  used  for 
fertilization.  As  a  consequence  the  soil  fought  over  was  richly 
impregnated  with  bacteria,  especially  of  the  fecal  variety,  both 
spore  bearing  and  non-spore  bearing.  The  spore  bearing 
organisms  are  very  tenacious  of  life  and  resistant  to  destruction. 
Among  these  fecal  organisms  the  most  important  and  virulent 
met  with  in  the  war  were  the  bacillus  tetani,  which  causes 
tetanus  or  "  lock-jaw,"  and  the  bacillus  aerogenes  capsulatus 
(Welch)  or  perfringens,  which  causes  gaseous  gangrene. 
There  are  other  varieties  mixed  with  these  and  usually  found 
associated  with  them  in  wounds ;  but  these  are  the  ones  which, 
especially  in  the  earlier  stages  of  the  war,  caused  the  greatest 
mortality  in  the  wounded.  The  clothing  of  the  soldiers  was 
necessarily  more  or  less  fouled  with  the  germ-laden  earth; 
often  their  skins  were  dirty,  too,  for  a  dainty  toilet  and  ideal 
cleanliness  are  not  often  possible  under  field  conditions;  so 
that  when  a  wound  was  inflicted  these  virulent  organisms,  to- 
gether with  the  ordinary  pus-producing  bacteria,  were  carried 
into  the  depth  of  the  wound  either  on  the  projectile  itself,  or 
on  shreds  of  clothing  or  skin  which  are  usually  carried  into  the 
wound  by  the  projectile,  and  there  they  found  a  favorable  home 
in  which  to  multiply  and  elaborate  their  toxins.  The  "lock- 
jaw "  and  "  gas  gangrene  "  bacilli  are  anaerobic,  that  is,  they 
flourish  only  when  they  are  protected  from  the  action  of 
oxygen  or  air;  so  that  deep  wounds  and  those  which  exhibit 
pockets  or  side  tracks  are  the  ones  which  are  best  suited  to  the 
needs  of  these  organisms.  Naturally,  then,  the  rational  treat- 
ment of  such  wounds  and  the  one  practiced  with  success  if 
the  patient  was  seen  sufficiently  early  was  either  excision  of 
the  entire  wound,  or  if  such  was  not  possible,  the  thorough  and 
wide  opening  up  of  the  wound  so  that  there  were  no  pockets 
or  crevices  left  which  prevented  the  access  of  air  to  them. 
Due  to  the  high  incidence  and  the  fatal  effect  of  tetanus  or 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

"  lock-jaw  "  when  once  the  system  has  absorbed  the  toxins  of 
the  tetanus  bacillus,  it  early  became  the  practice,  which  was  con- 
tinued throughout  the  war,  to  give  a  prophylactic  or  preventive 
injection  of  tetanus  anti-toxin  at  the  first  sanitary  formation 
to  which  the  wounded  man  was  taken,  usually  the  battalion  aid 
or  collecting  station.  This  injection  of  anti-toxic  serum  was 
made  mandatory  and  each  wounded  man  was  so  protected, 
however  apparently  trifling  the  wound ;  as  a  consequence  the 
occurrence  of  "  lock-jaw  "  became  a  rarity  instead  of  a  common 
complication. 

Though  the  incidence  of  gaseous  gangrene  was  greatly  les- 
sened by  early  surgical  intervention,  cases  which  were  seen  late 
frequently  already  showed  the  infection  as  well  established,  and 
then  the  problem  became  one  of  control  instead  of  prevention. 
Various  measures  were  proposed  for  combating  and  limiting 
its  spread,  the  most  popular  of  which  were  the  injections  of 
oxygen  or  peroxide  of  hydrogen,  which  gives  off  free  oxygen, 
in  the  tissues  beyond  the  infected  area,  in  the  endeavor  to  pre- 
vent an  extension  of  the  process.  The  value  of  these  measures 
is  very  doubtful,  since  tissues  distended  with  the  oxygen  or 
peroxide  are  rendered  tense  and  their  blood  supply  lessened 
by  pressure;  in  other  words,  tissues  which  are  uninjured  are 
really  damaged  and  rendered  less  able  to  combat  by  their 
natural  processes  the  invasion  of  the  organisms;  hence  these 
means  were  not  widely  employed  though  some  surgeons  claimed 
that  it  was  really  beneficial  and  the  gangrenous  process  was 
limited  by  use  of  them.  Unfortunately,  often,  when  massive 
gangrene  had  already  supervened,  temporizing  measures  were 
too  risky,  and  amputation  had  to  be  done  as  a  life-saving 
measure.  In  less  severe  cases,  in  which  a  muscle  or  group  of 
muscles  only  was  involved,  excision  of  the  infected  muscle  or 
group,  as  the  case  might  be,  resulted  in  the  saving  of  both 
life  and  limb. 

The  importance  of  immobilizing  for  transport  the  wounded 
part,  whether  it  involves  bone  or  is  of  the  soft  parts  only,  in 
aiding  to  prevent  or  limit  infection,  is  more  fully  appreciated 


ADVANCES  IN  SURGERY  DURING  THE  WAR      315 

now  as  a  result  of  war  experience  than  it  ever  has  been  before. 
When  infection  of  a  wound  is  evidently  unavoidable  or  is 
already  frankly  present  when  the  patient  reaches  surgical  aid, 
either  through  inability  thoroughly  to  excise  the  wound,  if 
seen  early,  or  due  to  the  general  condition  of  the  patient  which 
prevents  a  radical  primary  operation,  or  through  the  impossi- 
bility of  early  evacuation  to  a  surgical  hospital,  the  problem 
of  early  control  of  the  infection,  cutting  short  its  course,  so 
that  the  wound  may  be  sterilized  and  rendered  capable  of 
secondary  closure  without  the  long  wait  for  healing  from  the 
bottom  out  by  granulation,  is  the  effort  to  which  the  surgeon 
bends  his  knowledge  and  energy.  In  the  years  of  peace,  sur- 
geons had  striven  steadily  with  success  to  render  surgical 
operations  aseptic  or  free  from  infection,  and  the  use  and 
elaboration  of  antiseptic  agents,  employed  to  destroy  bacteria 
and  control  infection,  had  claimed  but  little  of  their  thought 
and  attention.  Faced  with  the  treatment  of  many  and  viru- 
lently infected  wounds,  interest  in  antiseptics  was  revived  and 
out  of  experiments  with  many  substances  and  many  methods  of 
application  were  evolved  successful  means  of  combating  infec- 
tion. Holding  first  place,  probably,  in  efficiency  of  controlling 
infection  is  the  Carrel  method  of  wound  sterilization  by  use  of 
Dakin's  solution.  Dakin's  fluid  is  a  solution  of  sodium  hypo- 
chlorite  of  a  given  strength,  0.45-0.5  per  cent,  of  the  hypo- 
chlorite.  If  stronger  than  this  it  is  too  irritating;  if  weaker,  it 
has  but  small  antiseptic  power.  If  employed  haphazard,  in 
any  sort  of  fashion,  it  has  no  more  value  than  any  fluid  em- 
ployed for  irrigation  or  mechanical  cleansing.  Carrel  worked 
out  a  method  which  utilizes  its  full  antiseptic  value.  He  found 
that  by  the  use  of  many  small,  soft  rubber  tubes  (4mm.  inside 
diameter)  with  small  perforations  in  the  tubes  towards  their 
ends,  so  that  the  fluid  might  be  evenly  distributed  in  the  wound, 
this  antiseptic  fluid  could  be  brought  into  contact  with  all  the 
wound  surface.  By  trial  the  frequency  of  the  use  of  the  fluid 
in  the  wound  was  determined  to  be  at  two-hour  intervals  for 
the  best  results.  To  get  results  the  technic  as  elaborated  after 


316  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

long  study  and  experimentation  by  Carrel  should  be  carefully 
and  rigidly  followed.  Dakin's  fluid  is  antiseptic  for  only  a 
brief  period,  and  to  act  must  be  brought  into  actual  contact  with 
the  infected  tissues,  which  is  best  accomplished  by  rigid  adher- 
ence to  the  technic  as  laid  down  by  Carrel.  As  remarked 
before,  failure  follows  haphazard,  hit-or-miss  methods.  Many 
surgeons  have  failed  to  get  results  with  Dakin's  solution,  and 
have  pronounced  it  valueless,  but  investigation  in  such  cases 
usually  shows  that  they  have  applied  it  in  a  way  of  their  own 
and  have  disregarded  the  teachings  of  Carrel  as  to  its  proper 
methods  of  use.  The  surgeons  who  have  followed  the  method 
rigidly  as  recommended  are  usually  successful  and  become  en- 
thusiastic advocates  of  this  means  of  controlling  infection. 
Remarkable  results  in  the  prompt  control  and  quick  sterilization 
of  badly  infected  wounds  have  been  reported  in  great  numbers, 
permanent  secondary  closures  then  becoming  possible  and 
usually  proving  successful. 

Rutherford  Morison,  an  English  surgeon,  has  advocated  the 
use  of  a  paste  composed  of  Bismuth  subnitrate,  or  carbonate, 
iodoform  and  enough  liquid  paraffin  to  make  a  paste  —  this 
paste  being  commonly  called  "  Bipp  "  from  the  initial  letters  of 
its  components.  The  English  have  used  it  with  success  and 
Morison  claims  that  by  a  few  dressings  with  it,  many  wounds 
can  be  sterilized  at  once,  while  in  the  remainder  the  spread  of 
infection  can  be  checked  and  remedied. 

For  the  treatment  of  infected  wounds  Sir  Almroth  Wright 
also  introduced  his  hypertonic  salt  solution.  Normal  salt  solu- 
tion, 0.9  per  cent,  of  ordinary  table  salt  in  sterile  water,  has 
long  been  used  as  a  cleansing  fluid,  with  perhaps  mild  antiseptic 
properties.  Wright's  Hypertonic  Solution  is  a  solution  of  salt 
in  water  in  the  strength  of  5  per  cent.,  over  five  times  the 
strength  of  the  normal  saline.  A  fresh  wound  has  a  coating 
of  lymph  from  the  tissues  of  the  body  formed  on  the  wound 
surface  in  a  comparatively  brief  space  of  time.  This  seals  the 
surface  of  the  wound,  and  bacteria  multiply  unhindered  beneath 
this  protective  coating.  The  use  of  five  per  cent,  salt  solution 


ADVANCES  IN  SURGERY  DURING  THE  WAR      317 

prevents  the  formation  of  this  film  of  lymph  and  invites  the 
flow  of  lymph  from  the  tissues,  causing  what  Wright  terms 
"  lymph  lavage."  This  lymph  is  one  of  the  protective  fluids 
of  the  body,  and  the  constant  outgoing  stream  of  it  through 
the  infected  tissues  serves  to  carry  away  with  it  the  bacteria 
which  are  growing  on  the  surface  and  to  prevent  their  deeper 
penetration. 

The  above  have  been  the  most  successful  methods  of  treating 
infections  which  have  already  become  established  and  of  pre- 
venting serious  infection  in  wounds  in  which  surgical  cleanli- 
ness could  not  be  obtained. 

Brief  mention  should  be  made  of  the  treatment  of  shock.  No 
specific  treatment  has  been  discovered;  it  is  still  symptomatic. 
Cannon  did  valuable  work  in  this  field.  While  nothing  new  in 
treatment  has  been  added,  methods  of  treatment  were  rendered 
available  and  efficient,  which  had  not  been  so  formerly  in  the 
field  with  armies.  So-called  "  shock  teams  "  were  organized, 
consisting  of  personnel  specially  trained  in  the  handling  of 
shock  cases,  and  these  teams  worked  in  the  hospitals  in  the 
advance  zone.  The  evacuation  and  mobile  surgical  hospitals 
had  wards  set  aside  for  the  treatment  of  these  cases,  and  the 
personnel  to  carry  out  the  treatment.  Field  hospitals  and 
triages  had  litters  so  arranged  as  to  warm  up  quickly  and  to 
keep  warm  any  patients  received  in  a  state  of  shock,  and  ambu- 
lances heated  from  the  exhaust  were  used  to  transport  them. 
The  warming  and  keeping  warm  of  a  patient  in  shock  is  still 
a  great  necessity.  Acidosis,  an  acid  condition  of  the  blood, 
which  is  normally  alkaline,  is  present  in  shock,  and  Cannon 
combats  this  with  success  by  giving  sodium  bicarbonate  by  the 
mouth,  and  a  4  per  cent,  solution  of  it  intravenously,  intro- 
duced very  slowly,  about  an  ounce  a  minute.  The  menace  of 
low  blood  pressure  is  met  by  position,  prone,  or  head  lowered, 
except  in  cranial  and  chest  wounds,  as  little  movement  and 
handling  as  possible,  and  many  advocate  the  use  of  6-10  per 
cent,  glucose  and  5-7  per  cent,  gum  arabic  solutions  in  the  veins, 
either  alone,  or  with  glucose  added,  and  perhaps  a  small  per- 


318  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

centage  of  adrenalin ;  but  the  stimulant  effect  of  the  latter  is 
very  fugitive.  Blood  pressure  readings  are  taken  at  frequent 
intervals,  and  treatment  regulated  thereby. 

Porter  advocates  the  treatment  of  shock  by  means  of  carbon 
dioxide,  which  is  introduced  into  a  box  in  which  the  patient's 
head  is  enclosed,  enough  gas  being  used  to  double  the  number 
of  respirations.  By  employing  this  carbon  dioxide  treatment, 
in  addition  to  the  posture,  the  warming,  and  the  intravenous 
injections,  Porter  claims  to  have  80  per  cent,  of  successes,  even 
in  the  cases  of  profound  shock. 

Another  important  advance  in  war  surgery  was  the  early 
splinting  of  the  wounded,  as  far  forward  as  possible.  Some 
splints  were  applied  even  on  the  field,  many  at  the  battalion  aid 
stations  close  behind  the  firing  line,  while  it  was  the  endeavor 
to  have  every  man  splinted  before  being  evacuated  from  the 
*'  triage "  or  sorting  station  of  the  wounded  to  formations 
farther  back.  This  splinting  applied  not  only  to  fractures  and 
joint  wounds,  but  to  extensive  wounds  of  the  soft  parts  as 
well.  It  resulted  in  greatly  lessening  shock,  rendering  the 
wounded  more  comfortable  and  thus  keeping  up  their  morale, 
preventing  further  injury  from  movement  of  the  wounded  part 
during  transportation  and  so  delivering  the  patient  in  better 
condition  for  immediate  or  early  operation.  This  was  accom- 
plished by  standardizing  the  splints  throughout  the  army,  mak- 
ing them  simple,  easy  and  quick  of  application,  training  the 
sanitary  personnel  in  their  proper  application  and  adjustment, 
and  having  a  sufficient  supply  for  their  needs  at  all  times  with 
the  combat  units.  Better  final  results  in  the  treatment  of 
wounded  resulted  from  this  early  and  far-forward  splinting. 

A  very  distinct  and  one  of  the  most  far-reaching  and  bene- 
ficial results  of  the  war  was  the  realization  of  the  surgeon  that 
his  duty  had  not  been  fully  accomplished  in  getting  a  wound 
to  heal  or  a  fracture  to  unite.  Too  often  in  the  past  the  general 
surgeon  was  satisfied  with  just  this,  and  as  a  consequence  not 
enough  attention  was  paid  to  the  future  function  of  the 
wounded  member.  Due  to  the  teaching  and  indefatigable  effort 


ADVANCES  IN  SURGERY  DURING  THE  WAR      319 

of  the  Orthopaedists  both  of  this  country  and  of  England,  the 
general  surgeon's  view  was  broadened  and  his  attention  was 
directed  to  preserving  of  function  even  at  the  expense  of  quick 
healing,  though  in  most  instances  the  one  did  not  interfere  with 
the  other.  As  Sir  Robert  Jones,  the  eminent  English  Orthopae- 
dist, expresses  it :  "  The  orthopaedic  mind  thinks  in  terms  of 
function."  During  the  war  preventive  orthopedics  was  prac- 
ticed, as  distinguished  from  corrective  orthopedics.  The  latter 
is  and  has  long  been  more  especially  in  the  province  of  the 
Orthopaedic  Surgeon.  The  former,  however,  should  lie  in  the 
province  of  every  surgeon  who  has  to  deal  with  war  wounds. 
The  world  war  has  taught  the  general  surgeon  a  lesson  in 
preventive  orthopedics  which  will  never  be  forgotten,  and  the 
benefits  of  this  lesson  will  be  carried  back  with  him  into  civil 
life.  Many  deformities  and  crippling  as  to  function  will  be 
prevented  which  have  hitherto  occurred  more  or  less  as  a  matter 
of  course,  requiring  secondary  operations  or  corrective  orthope- 
dics to  gain  what  might  have  been  prevented  in  the  first  place. 
This  advance  we  owe  to  orthopaedic  surgeons  and  their  insistent 
teaching.  Results  obtained  augur  well  for  the  future.  But 
to  obtain  them  it  was  early  learned  that  a  consistent  line  of 
treatment  must  be  followed,  not  haphazard  methods.  This  was 
accomplished  by  having  uniformity  of  treatment  from  front  to 
rear  formations,  so  that  the  wounded,  even  though  necessity 
compelled  him  to  pass  through  the  hands  of  different  surgeons, 
was  assured  of  the  continuation  of  the  treatment  instituted  in 
his  case  by  the  first  surgeon  who  attended  him,  and  by  the  best 
methods  experience  had  shown  as  giving  the  best  results  in  the 
individual  cases. 

Another  advance  in  surgery  or  in  being  better  able  to  do  good 
surgery  was  the  aid  and  increased  use  of  the  roenigenol- 
who,  during  the  war,  became  a  more  important  factor  than  he 
had  ever  been.  He  operated  far  forward ;  practically  all  cases 
passed  through  his  hands  before  operation  and  the  information 
he  was  able  to  furnish  was  invaluable  in  indicating  the  proper 
operative  procedure.  Through  advances  in  the  roentgenologic 


320  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

art  foreign  bodies  were  more  accurately  located  than  they  had 
ever  been  before.  Several  very  simple  and  accurate  methods 
of  locating  the  foreign  body  within  a  fraction  of  an  inch, 
rapidly  applied  without  long  mathematical  calculations,  were 
perfected.  Too,  the  roentgenologist  became  an  anatomist  as 
well,  and  not  only  could  he  give  the  depth  from  the  skin  surface 
at  which  a  foreign  body  lay,  but  he  could  locate  it  further  by 
its  relations  to  well  known  anatomical  landmarks.  By  aid  of 
the  roentgenologist,  the  surgeon  could  also  cut  directly  down 
upon  and  remove  under  X-Ray  vision,  by  means  of  the  lluoro- 
scope,  a  foreign  body  which  might  be  small,  difficult  to  find  or 
difficult  of  access,  without  such  direct  X-Ray  vision.  Thus  the 
roentgenologist  has  become  in  operating  a  most  valued  and  im- 
portant assistant  of  the  operating  surgeon. 

As  a  product  of  the  war  there  was  also  perfected  a  portable 
bedside  X-Ray  unit,  capable  of  taking  excellent  roentgeno- 
graphs  and  of  being  used  with  the  fluoroscopic  screen.  This 
operates  from  the  ordinary  incandescent  lamp  socket  or  wall 
plug.  No  longer  is  it  necessary,  during  convalescence  and  the 
progress  of  union,  to  move  a  patient  with  a  fractured  bone  to 
determine  the  position  of  the  fragments.  This  can  now  be 
done  at  the  bedside  without  moving  or  disturbing  the  patient 
in  the  least,  with  the  consequent  risk  of  displacing  the  fragments 
which  such  moving  entails.  X-Rays  will  be  taken  more  fre- 
quently during  the  mending  process.  Any  displacement  will  be 
corrected  early,  fewer  cases  of  vicious  union  or  non-union  will 
occur,  and  better  results  in  fracture  work  will  result. 

While  there  has  been,  perhaps,  no  distinct  advance  in  the 
treatment  of  wounds  of  the  cranium  and  abdomen  when  oper- 
ated, lives  have  been  saved  by  early  operation  of  these  cases. 
Formerly,  due  chiefly  to  the  too  long  interval  between  the  time 
the  patient  was  wounded  and  the  time  surgical  aid  was  avail- 
able, the  teaching  was  that  expectant  treatment  —  non-operative, 
fhat  is,  merely  meeting  symptoms  as  they  arose  —  resulted  in 
saving  more  lives  than  operation  did.  This  has  now  been 
reversed.  Improvement  in  evacuation  methods,  and  the  moving 


ADVANCES  IN  SURGERY  DURING  THE  WAR      321 

of  surgical  hospitals  with  competent  and  trained  surgical  per- 
sonnel to  operate  these  special  cases  far  forward,  has  resulted 
in  getting  the  wounded  to  surgical  aid  quickly,  within  a  few 
hours  after  the  receipt  of  the  wound.  Under  such  conditions 
operation  on  these  cases  is  indicated;  the  sooner  the  operation 
is  done  the  better  the  chance  of  success.  So  that  now,  as  has 
long  obtained  in  civil  surgery,  in  war  surgery,  too,  these  cases 
are  no  longer  treated  expectantly,  but  are  operated  when  seen 
early  and  the  mortality  in  such  cases  has  thereby  been  very 
materially  reduced. 

In  chest  wounds  a  distinct  advance  has  been  made  in  one 
direction.  It  has  been  discovered  that  opening  the  chest  cavity 
and  thereby  allowing  air  to  get  in  is  no  longer  to  be  feared  for 
its  dire  results  as  formerly.  Such  fear  of  air  in  the  chest 
cavity  (pneumothorax)  has  been  found  to  be  largely  mythical. 
Now  bruised,  devitalized  and  potentially  infected  lung  tissue  is 
excised,  hemorrhage  in  the  chest  is  stopped,  and  lung  tissue  is 
sutured  as  is  the  soft  tissue  anywhere  in  the  body.  In  other 
words,  wounds  of  the  lung  are  debrided  or  excised  and 
treated  as  are  other  wounds  of  the  soft  tissues.  In  the  old 
cases  of  pus  in  the  pleura,  pyothorax  or  empyema,  in  which 
the  pleura  is  greatly  thickened  or  leathery  and  no  longer  elastic, 
imprisoning  the  lung  and  preventing  it  from  expanding,  the 
earlier  method  was  to  excise  the  chest  wall  and  allow  it  to 
collapse,  thus  filling  the  cavity  in  the  pleura  so  that  it  will  no 
longer  discharge  pus.  According  to  present  methods,  such 
amounts  of  the  ribs  as  may  be  necessary  to  permit  a  free  access 
to  the  affected  part  of  the  pleura  are  resected,  care  being  exer- 
cised that  the  periosteum  or  membranous  covering  of  the 
ribs  is  preserved,  this  thickened  pleura  is  then  excised,  peeled 
off  of  the  chest  wall  and  of  the  lung,  permitting  the  lung  to 
expand  and  function  again.  The  soft  parts  are  closed,  the 
membranous  covering  of  the  portions  of  the  ribs  taken  out  is 
left  in  place,  the  ribs  soon  grow  back,  and  the  old  deformities 
of  a  collapsed  chest  wall  and  drooping  shoulder  are  no  longer 
evident. 


322  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

Mention  should  be  made  of  the  great  value  of  the  X-Ray 
as  a  diagnostic  agent  in  empyema  cases,  especially  if  stereo- 
scopic use  of  plates  is  employed;  the  extent  of  the  empyema 
or  delimitation  of  the  cavity  to  be  dealt  with  is  plainly  brought 
out. 

A  decided  advance  has  been  made  in  the  management  of 
wounds  of  joints.  As  a  result  of  experience  in  joint  wounds 
during  the  world  war  it  has  been  proved  indubitably  that  the 
lining  membranes  of  the  joints  (synovial  sacs)  are  quite  re- 
sistant to  infection,  taking  rank  almost  with  the  lining  mem- 
brane of  the  abdomen  and  its  contained  organs  in  this  respect. 
Early  immobilization  of  joints  which  have  been  wounded,  in 
case  they  are  already  infected,  will  usually  prevent  the  spread  of 
infection;  and  the  resisting  power  of  the  synovial  membrane 
lining  the  joint  will  confine  the  infection  to  a  limited  area,  so 
that  the  whole  joint  will  not  become  involved,  and  it  is  neces- 
sary then  to  drain  only  the  infected  portion.  Since  it  has  been 
ascertained  in  these  cases  that  the  joint  membrane  has  the  power 
to  control  and  overcome  mild  infections,  joints  are  now  fear- 
lessly closed  primarily,  after  excision  of  the  torn  and  possibly 
infected  wounded  area  and  the  cleansing  of  the  joint  of  extra- 
vasated  blood  and  perhaps  bits  of  foreign  bodies  and  detached 
bone  fragments,  where  former  teaching  would  have  led  to 
prolonged  drainage  with  a  resultant  stiff  joint  or  one  with 
limited  motion.  It  has  also  been  discovered,  contra  to  former 
teaching,  that  drainage  tubes  introduced  into  or  through  a  joint 
prolong  the  suppurative  process  and  retard  recovery  instead  of 
hastening  it,,  so  that  now  when  drainage  has  to  be  instituted, 
the  tubes  are  carried  only  down  to  the  joint  but  never  project 
into  it.  These  facts,  together  with  immediate  immobilization 
of  joint  wounds,  followed  early  in  convalescence,  usually  cer- 
tainly not  later  than  ten  days  to  two  weeks,  by  passive  and 
active  or  voluntary  movement  of  the  joint,  so  as  to  avoid  stiff- 
ness, or  a  rigid  (ankylosed)  joint,  have  resulted  in  retaining 
function  which,  under  former  methods  of  treatment,  would 
have  been  lost  entirely  or  severely  limited.  By  having  the 


ADVANCES  IN  SURGERY  DURING  THE  WAR      323 

patient  himself  gradually  increase  the  range  of  motion  of  the 
joint,  entire  restoration  of  function  is  obtained  in  a  majority 
of  cases ;  the  muscles  do  not  atrophy  and  shrink  and  lose  their 
power,  as  they  do  when  they  are  long  immobilized  and  not 
allowed  exercise,  and  convalescence  is  thereby  much  shortened, 
not  only  redounding  in  benefit  to  the  patient  himself,  but  to 
the  economic  gain  of  the  country  at  large. 

A  radical  change  in  the  treatment  of  infected  joint  wounds 
has  been  introduced  and  advocated  especially  by  Willems,  a 
Belgian  surgeon.  He  uses  no  drainage  tubes  in  suppurating 
joints,  but  at  stated  intervals  the  patient  is  required  to  move 
his  joint,  which  movement  expresses  the  contained  pus  through 
the  incisions  made  into  the  joint  for  the  escape  of  the  pus. 
Remarkably  good  results  have  been  obtained  by  Willems  and 
others  who  have  employed  this  method  of  treatment.  They 
claim  that  better  drainage  is  obtained  than  by  the  use  of  drain- 
age tubes,  the  infection  is  more  quickly  controlled,  the  joint 
cleans  up  more  rapidly,  and  it  is  a  rare  occurrence  to  have  a 
stiff  joint  result  when  the  treatment  by  movement  is  persistently 
and  consistently  employed.  In  this  method  of  treatment  move- 
ment of  the  joint  is  begun  in  twelve  to  twenty-four  hours  after 
the  joint  is  opened  by  operation.  Willems  states  that,  contrary 
to  what  one  would  expect,  after  the  first  few  times  movement 
of  the  joint  causes  no  great  pain,  since  the  pain  on  movement  is 
due  to  inflammation  and  the  acute  inflammation  quickly  sub- 
sides, drainage  by  this  means  is  so  efficient. 

What  has  been  said  of  joints,  as  to  early  movement  and 
exercise  of  the  muscles  of  the  wounded  member,  can  also  be 
said  of  fractures.  The  importance  of  frequent  roentgenograms 
during  convalescence  has  been  mentioned ;  progress  of  union 
and  the  assurance  that  fragments  remain  in  proper  position 
are  ascertained  by  them.  No  longer  are  fractures  immobilized 
by  rigidly  immobilizing  the  entire  injured  limb  with  nearby 
joints  rendered  incapable  of  movement.  By  the  suspension 
treatment  of  fractures,  constant  extension  is  obtained  by  a  sys- 
tem of  pulleys  and  weights,  so  that  even  though  the  joints  are 


324  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

moved  and  the  muscles  are  exercised,  the  extension  pull  remains 
constant,  the  patient  is  no  longer  helpless  and  dependent  upon 
nurses  or  orderlies  even  to  shift  his  position  in  bed;  he  can 
move  about  in  bed  to  a  limited  degree,  of  course,  and  is  required 
to  move  and  exercise  the  muscles  and  joints  of  the  fractured 
extremity.  This  process  hastens  bony  union  in  that  it  improves 
circulation,  prevents  stiffness  of  joints  and  atrophy  of  muscles 
from  disuse,  and  thus  again  shortens  the  period  of  conva- 
lescence, allowing  the  use  of  the  injured  member  much  earlier 
than  was  formerly  thought  possible.  Too,  the  early  use  of 
ambulatory  splints  for  walking  during  convalescence  hastens 
return  to  normal  use  and  lessens  the  vicious  "  crutch  habit." 

Though  nothing  new  has  been  added  in  the  matter  of  bone 
grafts,  bone  grafting  is  now  done  with  greater  success  probably 
than  formerly.  Instead  of  covering  in  defects  of  the  skull 
with  foreign  material,  such  as  metal  plates,  as  heretofore  has 
been  the  usual  practice,  it  has  been  found  that  a  thin  shaving 
of  bone  with  its  covering  membrane  or  periosteum  transplanted 
bodily  from  a  nearby  portion  of  the  uninjured  skull,  will  unite 
with  the  bone  around  the  defect,  will  grow  and  thus  give  a 
homogeneous  bony  covering  for  the  area  of  lost  bone. 

When  amputation  has  to  be  performed,  greater  attention  is 
now  directed  to  the  effort  of  obtaining  an  end-bearing  stump, 
that  is,  a  stump  which  will  take  the  weight  of  the  body,  when 
the  leg  or  thigh  has  been  amputated,  on  the  end  of  the  stump 
against  the  artificial  limb,  instead  of  the  pressure  of  weight- 
bearing  falling  upon  the  sides  of  the  stump.  An  end-bearing 
stump  is  altogether  desirable  and  offers  many  advantages. 
Now,  under  the  supervision  of  the  surgeon,  hardening  and 
toughening  of  the  end  of  the  stump  is  begun  as  soon  as  healing 
permits,  and  by  graduated  steps  of  pressure  and  pounding  and 
the  early  use  of  a  temporary  or  provisional  artificial  leg,  the 
stump  is  rendered  fit  for  the  wearing  of  the  permanent  limb 
much  earlier  than  formerly.  Also,  more  attention  is  paid  to 
the  "  shrinking "  of  the  stump,  with  the  same  end  in  view. 
All  of  this  is  done  under  the  supervision  of  the  surgeon  and 


ADVANCES  IN  SURGERY  DURING  THE  WAR     325 

no  longer  is  a  man  dismissed  and  sent  to  a  dealer  in  artificial 
limbs  to  be  fitted ;  his  final  fitting  is  given  before  he  is  dismissed 
from  hospital  and  the  proper  sort  of  device  is  chosen  best  to  fit 
the  individual  case,  with  an  eye  chiefly  to  the  man's  occupa- 
tion. Also,  he  is  educated  in  the  use  of  the  new  appliance  before 
dismissal.  The  early  use  of  the  artificial  leg  lessens  the  period 
of  crutch  using  and  obviates  the  undesirable  "  crutch  habit." 

New  knowledge  has  been  acquired  which  assures  greater 
success  in  dealing  with  lesions  of  the  peripheral  nerves.  It  has 
been  ascertained  that  the  fasciculi  or  smaller  bundles  of  nerve 
fibers,  which  together  make  up  the  nerve  trunk  as  a  whole, 
have  special  functions  of  their  own,  and  to  obtain  the  best 
success  in  suturing  a  divided  nerve  these  bundles  of  fibers 
should  be  joined  to  the  corresponding  bundles  of  the  other  end 
in  suturing,  so  that  the  special  tracts  will  be  continuous.  Hence 
the  greatest  care  is  now  exercised  to  place  the  nerve  in  its  cor- 
rect anatomical  continuity  and  to  avoid  any  torsion  or  twisting 
of  the  nerve  ends  in  joining  them.  Also,  it  seems  to  be  defi- 
nitely determined  that  surrounding  the  sutured  segments  of 
nerves  with  extraneous  material,  such  as  fascia,  various  mem- 
branes, gutta-percha  tissue,  segments  of  veins,  which  was  done 
in  the  endeavor  to  prevent  adhesions,  is  undesirable  since  it 
interferes  with  new-formed  blood  supply  to  the  injured  portion 
of  the  nerve  and  so  retards  regeneration.  The  best  bed  for  a 
sutured  or  transplanted  nerve  is  vascular  muscle  tissue,  and 
there  is  a  minimum  of  adhesions  where  the  nerve  can  course 
between  the  inter-muscular  planes.  Success  has  not  generally 
attended  the  transplantation  of  nerve  segments;  it  is  far  better 
to  join  the  severed  segments  of  the  divided  nerve  to  each  other 
when  at  all  possible,  and  this  is  usually  possible,  for  gaps  of 
considerable  extent  can  be  bridged  by  proper  position  of  the 
arm  or  leg  in  bringing  the  too  short  segments  together  without 
tension. 

Great  strides  forward  have  been  made  in  maxillo-facial  sur- 
gery in  obtaining  both  functional  and  cosmetic  results. 
Surgeons  and  dental  surgeons,  working  together  to  a  common 


326  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

end,  have  succeeded  in  correcting  most  frightful  and  repulsive 
disfigurations  and  deformities  of  the  face  and  jaws  into  the 
lineaments  of  quite  presentable  human  beings.  Whole  jaws 
and  sections  of  the  bony  structure  of  jaws  and  face  are  built 
up  prosthetically,  contours  are  rounded  out,  scars  excised,  and 
tissue  and  skin  from  other  suitable  portions  of  the  body  are 
transplanted  and  grafted  to  fill  in  the  soft  tissues  which  have 
been  burned  or  blown  away.  New  eyelids,  new  eyebrows,  new 
noses,  new  mouths  and  lips,  new  chins,  new  ears  and  cheeks 
are  successfully  made,  restoring  the  contour  of  the  face  to  as 
near  a  likeness  to  the  original  as  can  be  obtained.  This  work 
requires  infinite  patience,  optimism,  and  a  steadfastness  against 
discouragement,  often  many  operations,  but  the  results  have 
been  nothing  less  than  marvelous  in  cases  one  would  judge 
utterly  hopeless  of  any  possible  benefit.  Each  case  requires 
careful  and  individual  study,  and  the  procedure  to  be  attempted 
should  be  fully  worked  out  and  determined,  and  accurate  pat- 
terns of  flaps,  etc.,  made  before  operation  is  begun. 

A  weak  solution  of  sodium  citrate  mixed  with  blood  will 
prevent  its  clotting.  Based  upon  this  fact,  a  simple  method  of 
blood  transfusion  with  simple  apparatus  has  been  perfected  to 
replace  at  least  a  portion  of  the  blood  lost  from  hemorrhage. 
The  technic  is  so  simple,  the  apparatus  required  for  its  use  so 
simple,  that  it  can  be  done  far  forward  and  by  surgeons  of  only 
ordinary  ability,  so  that  new  blood  can  be  supplied  to  one  who 
needs  it  at  a  time  when  it  will  have  the  best  effect,  shortly  after 
the  original  loss  of  the  blood.  Proctoclyisis,  or  the  slow  intro- 
duction of  normal  saline  solution  into  the  rectum,  to  aid  the 
system  in  the  making  of  its  own  blood  and  to  help  combat  shock, 
maintains  its  place  of  importance  and  value. 

The  recent  war  has  resulted  in  extending  the  surgeon's 
interest  to  the  field  of  reconstruction  and  reeducation,  which 
in  a  way,  properly  falls  under  after-treatment  of  surgical  con- 
ditions. The  surgeon's  advice  and  supervision  in  reeducating 
the  maimed  and  crippled  is  naturally  of  high  value,  based 
upon  his  study  of  and  knowledge  of  anatomy.  He  can  best 


ADVANCES  IN  SURGERY  DURING  THE  WAR      327 

direct  the  course  of  reeducation  so  that  the  maximum  beneficial 
results  can  be  obtained.  The  direction  of  his  energy  and 
knowledge  to  this  end  will  redound  largely  to  the  happiness  of 
the  individual  who  can  be  transformed  from  a  helpless  burden 
to  a  more  or  less  useful  existence,  as  well  as  prove  an  enormous 
economic  saving  to  the  nation  as  a  whole. 

The  knowledge  gained  in  improved  methods  of  surgical  treat- 
ment during  the  world  war  will  result  in  better  results  in  the 
treatment  of  industrial  accidents  in  peace  time. 


XIX 

PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE  AND  THE  WAR l 
VICTOR  C.  VAUGHAN 

educated  man,  civilian  or  military  in  his  training  and 
life,  now  questions  the  importance  of  keeping  the  soldier 
free  from  infection.  That  health  is  at  all  times  a  nation's 
greatest  asset  and  disease  its  greatest  liability  has  become  a 
recognized  truism.  Never  in  the  history  of  the  world  has 
preventive  medicine  had  so  great  an  opportunity  to  demonstrate 
its  value  in  the  service  of  mankind  and  that  it  has  not  failed 
in  this  demonstration  all  admit.  From  all  parts  of  the  earth, 
bearing  every  known  infection,  millions  of  men  have  been 
assembled  and  disease  has  at  no  time  and  in  no  way  become  a 
deciding  factor  in  any  military  enterprise.  The  mobilization  of 
raw  untrained  men,and  their  hurried  transformation  into  effec- 
tive soldiers,  has  always  been  accompanied  by  marked  increase 
in  morbidity  and  mortality.  The  assembly  of  young  men  in 
camps  acts  like  a  drag-net  bringing  to  a  central  point  all  infec- 
tions prevalent  in  the  areas  from  which  these  men  come.  The 
wider  the  area,  the  larger  the  number  of  those  brought  together, 
the  greater  the  susceptibility  of  the  individuals  constituting  the 
assembly,  the  more  closely  they  are  crowded  together  and  the 
more  intimate  their  contact,  the  larger  the  number  of  bearers 
of  infections,  the  more  virulent  the  disease-causing  organisms 
brought  into  the  camps,  the  greater  will  be  the  morbidity  and 

1  For  the  scientific  details  upon  which  this  Chapter  is  founded  see 
papers  by  Col.  Victor  C.  Vaughan  and  Capt.  Geo.  T.  Palmer  in  the 
"Journal  of  Lab.  and  Clinical  Medicine,"  August,  1918,  and  July  and 
August,  1919. 


PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE  AND  THE  WAR      329 

mortality  from  communicable  diseases.  Our  Government 
assembled  within  less  than  two  years  nearly  four  million  un- 
trained, undisciplined  men,  most  of  whom  were  unacquainted 
with  the  details  of  personal  hygiene  and  without  experience  in 
caring  for  themselves  under  conditions  of  army  life.  That  the 
morbidity  and  mortality  from  communicable  diseases  among 
these  should  show  an  average  above  that  in  the  civilian  life  from 
which  they  came  was  to  be  expected  by  one  familiar  with  the 
science  of  epidemiology. 

The  purpose  of  this  writing  is  to  ascertain  to  what  extent 
preventive  measures  succeeded  in  holding  down  the  death  rate 
from  communicable  diseases  among  our  soldiers,  especially  in 
the  camps  in  this  country.  In  doing  this  it  will  be  best  to  divide 
the  period  covered  by  our  active  military  operations  into  three 
seasons:  (i)  From  Sept.  29,  1917,  to  March  29,  1918.  On  the 
first  of  these  dates  the  camps  were  fairly  well  developed  and 
this  period  covers  the  winter  months  and  our  findings  can  be 
compared  with  the  summer  months  with  reference  to  the  sea- 
sonal influence  on  the  character  and  spread  of  infections.  (2) 
From  March  30,  1918,  to  August  31,  1918.  Under  usual  con- 
ditions the  month  of  September  would  have  been  included  in 
this  "  Summer  Season,"  but  the  appearance  of  the  pandemic  of 
influenza  early  in  September  led  to  the  division  here  indicated. 
(3)  From  September  i  to  December  31,  1918.  These  four 
months  we  have  designated  as  the  "  Autumn  Season  "  or  the 
"  Influenza  Period." 

THE  WINTER  OF  1917-18 

The  death  rate  in  the  army  should  be  compared  with  that 
for  the  same  age  period  in  civil  life.  The  comparison  should 
be  made  on  the  records  for  the  same  year  and  the  same  season. 
Through  the  help  of  the  Health  Commissioners  of  certain  cities 
we  are  able  to  do  this.  Most  enlisted  men  in  the  army  were 
between  21  and  31  years  of  age.  The  period  nearest  this  avail- 
able in  civil  statistics  is  the  age  between  20  and  29  years.  In 
comparing  these  figures  there  is  a  slight  disadvantage  to  the 


330 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


army  on  each  of  the  following  points:  (i)  The  death  rale 
in  the  group  from  20  to  29  years  of  age  is  lower  than  that  of 
the  draft  age  from  21  to  31  years.  (2)  The  death  rate  in  these 
ages  is  greater  among  males  than  among  females.  (3)  The 
army  includes  more  men  above  31  than  below  21.  (4)  The 
population 'of  cities  is  as  a  rule  overestimated  and  a  slight  over- 
estimate in  the  population  lowers  the  estimated  death  rate 
markedly. 

With  these  explanations  a  comparison  of  the  army  death  rate 
with  the  rates  in  certain  cities,  expressed  as  annual  rates,  is 
given  for  this  period  in  Table  i. 

TABLE  i 

Annual  Death  Rate  per  1000.     (Age  20  to  29  Yrs.,  Time,  Oct.,  Nov., 
Dec.,  1917;  Jan.,  Feb.,  Mar.,  1918.) 


Place 


Death  Rate 


Army    

New  York  City. 

St.  Louis  . . 

New  Orleans  . . 

Pittsburgh  

Chicago  


9-1 
5-5 
5-5 
10.4 
6.2 
5-2 


It  is  seen  that  the  average  death  rate  in  the  camps  is  higher 
than  that  of  any  city  with  the  exception  of  New  Orleans. 

As  is  true  of  cities  the  death  rate  varied  widely  in  different 
camps,  as  is  shown  in  Table  2. 

TABLE  2 
Annual  Death  Rate  per  1000 


National  Guard 

National  Army 

Wheeler 

281 

Pike 

•5Q  7 

Beauregard                      .  .  . 

2<  4 

.  .  .     19.9 

Bowie 

21  I 

Funston     

...  16  3 

Sevier 

1C  C 

Travis   

...   15.3 

PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE  AND  THE  WAR      331 


National  Guard 


National  Army 


Cody   12.7 

Doniphan  11.9 

Shelby  8.6 

Kearney  8.1 

Sheridan  2.8 

Hancock   2.6 

Wadsworth  2.5 

McClellan  2.4 

Logan  2.3 


Lee   10.8 

Dodge    9-1 

Taylor  9.0 

Gordon  7.8 

Sherman  5.4 

Upton  5-3 

Custer    5.1 

Lewis 4.1 

Meade   3-9 

Grant 3.8 

Devens   ' 37 

Dix    .                                   2.9 


By  comparing  tables  i  and  2  it  will  be  seen  that  13  camps 
had  a  lower  death  rate  than  New  York  and  St.  Louis  for  the 
age  group  of  20  to  29  years  and  in  some  this  rate  was  about 
one-half  that  of  these  cities. 

The  diseases  responsible  for  the  greatest  number  of  deaths  in 
the  army  during  the  period  now  under  consideration  are  the 
acute  respiratory  diseases.  These  are  named  in  the  order 
in  which  they  caused  death  as  follows :  pneumonia,  meningitis, 
measles,  scarlet-fever  and  diphtheria.  With  the  addition  of 
tuberculosis  these  caused  77  per  cent,  of  all  deaths.  Sixteen 
per  cent,  were  due  to  other  diseases  ^and  seven  per  cent,  to 
mechanical  injuries.  Assuming  the  conditions  in  the  registra- 
tion area  for  1915  to  be  fairly  representative  of  other  years 
we  may  express  the  relative  fatality  between  civilian  and  army 
life  during  the  six  winter  months  as  follows : 

Pneumonia  was  12  times  greater  in  the  army. 

Meningitis  was  45  times  greater  in  the  army. 

Measles  was  19  times  greater  in  the  army. 

Scarlet-fever  was  6  times  greater  in  the  army. 

Diphtheria  was  2  times  greater  in  the  army. 

Tuberculosis  was  13  times  greater  in  civil  life. 

The  low  tuberculosis  rate  is  due  to  the  elimination  of  those 
in  the  active  stage  of  this  disease  and  most  of  the  deaths  from 


332  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

this  cause  were  due  to  the  activation  of  latent  stages  by  acute 
respiratory  diseases. 

By  comparing  the  morbidity  and  mortality  in  our  army  dur- 
ing the  six  months  of  1917-18  with  the  records  for  the  first  six 
months  of  the  Civil  War  it  appears  that  the  advance  in  medi- 
cine and  sanitation  has  prevented  one  half  million  cases  of  dis- 
ease and  some  ten  thousand  deaths.  During  the  Spanish- Ameri- 
can War  the  annual  death  rate  from  typhoid  fever  in  our  camps 
per  100,000  was  879;  during  the  six  months  of  1917-18  it  was 
1.3.  In  1898  there  was  not  a  regiment  in  the  United  States 
Army  which  did  not  suffer  from  typhoid  fever  and  in  most 
regiments  from  10  to  20  per  cent,  of  the  strength  acquired  this 
disease.  In  1917-18,  twelve  divisions  had  not  a  case.  If 
typhoid  fever  had  prevailed  in  our  camps  in  1917-18  to  the 
same  extent  as  it  did  during  the  same  time  in  the  State  of  Dela- 
ware there  would  have  been  in  the  army  over  50,000  cases  and 
more  than  5000  deaths  from  this  disease  alone.  The  morbidity 
from  typhoid  fever  in  Camp  Dix,  the  mobilization  camp  for 
Delaware  troops,  was  less  than  four  times  the  mortality  from 
this  disease  among  civilians  of  that  State.  And  if  the  mortality 
among  the  civilians  had  been  calculated  for  the  group  included 
in  the  draft  age  there  would  be  but  little  difference  between 
the  figures  indicating  morbidity  from  typhoid  in  Camp  Dix 
and  mortality  from  the  same  disease  among  the  civilians.  It 
is  quite  certain  that  every  case  of  typhoid  that  occurred  in  our 
camps  during  the  winter  of  1917-18  was  due  to  the  fact  that 
the  man  reached  the  camp  and  received  his  typhoid  vaccination 
after  he  had  already  contracted  the  disease.  There  is  no  evi- 
dence that  there  was  a  case  infected  in  any  camp.  The  degree 
of  protection  furnished  by  this  vaccine  will  be  discussed  later. 

In  the  winter  of  1917-18  our  large  camps  were  occupied  by 
National  Guard  and  National  Army  troops,  the  former  in  tents 
and  the  latter  in  barracks.  The  figures  given  in  Table  2  show 
that  this  difference  in  quarters  had  no  recognizable  effect  on 
the  death  rate.  It  is  desirable  at  this  point  to  set  before  the 
reader  the  information  contained  in  Table  3. 


PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE  AND  THE  WAR     333 

TABLE  3 

Location  of  National  Guard  and  National  Army  Camps,  Together  with 
the  States  from  which  Men  are  Drawn 

October,  1917,  to  March,  1918 
NATIONAL  GUARD 

Camp  Site  Source  of  Troops 

Beauregard  . . .  Alexandria,  La Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Missis- 
sippi 

Bowie   Ft.  Worth,  Tex Oklahoma,  Texas 

Cody  Deming,  N.  M Iowa,  Minnesota,  Nebraska, 

South  Dakota 

Doniphan    Ft.  Sill,  Okla Kansas,  Missouri 

Hancock   Augusta,  Ga Pennsylvania 

Kearny  Linda  Vista,  Cal Arizona,  California,  Colorado, 

New  Mexico,  Utah 

Logan   Houston,  Tex Illinois 

McClellan  Anniston,  Ala Delaware,  District  of  Colum- 
bia, Maryland,  New  Jersey, 
Virginia 

Sevier Greenville,  S.  C. North  Carolina,  South  Caro- 
lina, Tennessee 

Shelby Hattiesburg,  Miss.  ...  Indiana,  Kentucky,  West  Vir- 
ginia 

Sheridan  Montgomery,  Ala.  ...Ohio 

Wadsworth  . . .  Spartanburg,  S.  C.  ...  New  York 

Wheeler  Macon,  Ga Alabama,  Florida,  Georgia 

NATIONAL  ARMY 

Custer Battle  Creek,  Mich. . .  Michigan,  Wisconsin 

Devens  Ayer,  Mass Maine,  New  Hampshire,  Ver- 
mont, Massachusetts,  Rhode 
Island,  Connecticut,  New 
York 

Dix  Wrightstown,  N.  J.  . .  Delaware,  New  Jersey,  New 

York 

Dodge Des  Moines,  Iowa.  . .  Illinois,  Iowa,  Minnesota, 

North  Dakota 

Funston  Ft.  Riley,  Kan Arizona,  Colorado,  Kansas, 

Missouri,  Nebraska,  New 
Mexico,  South  Dakota 


334  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


NATIONAL  ARMY  —  Continued 


1  Gordon   Atlanta,  Ga Alabama,  Georgia,  Tennessee 

Grant  Rockford,  111 Illinois,  Wisconsin 

Jackson  Columbians.  C.  ....  Florida,  North  Carolina,  South 

Carolina 

Lee  Petersburg,  Va Pennsylvania,  Virginia,  West 

Virginia 

Lewis  American  Lake,  Wash.  Alaska,  California,  Idaho, 

Montana,  Nevada,  Oregon, 
Utah,  Washington,  Wyoming 

Meade  Annapolis  June.,  Md..  District  of  Columbia,  Mary- 
land, Pennsylvania 

Pike  Little  Rock,  Ark.  ...  Alabama,  Arkansas,  Louisiana, 

Mississippi 

Sherman  Chillicothe,  Ohio  ....  Ohio 

Taylor    Louisville,  Ky Illinois,  Indiana,  Kentucky 

Travis  F.  Sam  Houston,  Tex.  Oklahoma,  Texas 

Upton  Yaphank,  L.  I.,  N.  Y.  New  York 


NOTE:  The  States  indicated  represent  the  chief  source  of  troops  at 
each  place.  There  are  small  increments  from  other  points  in  a  number 
of  camps. 

1  This  camp  was  occupied  by  the  troops  indicated  less  than  two 
months,  when  these  troops  were  sent  to  Wheeler  and  replaced  at  Gordon 
by  draft  men  from  many  States. 

By  comparing  Tables  2  and  3  it  may  be  seen  that  climate 
had  no  recognizable  influence  on  the  death  rate.  Take  a  map 
of  the  United  States  and  locate  the  camps.  It  will  be  found 
that  those  with  high,  intermediate  and  low  death  rates  enjoy 
much  the  same  climate ;  for  example,  \Vheeler,  rate  28.3 ;  Jack- 
son, 19.9;  Sevier,  15.5;  Hancock,  2.6  lie  in  the  same  region. 
Now,  take  another  map  and  locate  the  camps  not  where  they 
are  but  in  the  region  from  which  their  troops  come.  Then,  it 
will  appear  that  that  portion  of  the  United  States  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  north  of  the  Ohio  and  Potomac  rivers  contains 
no  camp  with  an  annual  death  rate  of  8  per  1000.  Moreover, 
every  camp  with  similar  low  death  rate,  with  two  exceptions, 
lies  in  this  area.  One  of  the  apparent  exceptions,  Camp  Gor- 


PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE  AND  THE  WAR      335 

don,  is  really  not  an  exception.  On  the  second  map  it  also 
should  be  moved  to  this  region  (see  footnote  to  Table  3.) 
Lewis  is  the  only  real  exception.  Why  did  the  soldiers  from 
this  great  north-eastern  section  of  the  United  States  bear  the 
camp  diseases  of  the  winter  of  1917-18  better  than  those  from 
other  sections  of  our  country?  Are  they  physically  superior 
men?  No,  the  draft  records  show  their  physical  inferiority. 
Moreover,  the  per  cent,  of  rejections  in  the  draft  was  larger 
in  this  section  than  in  either  the  South  or  West.  There  is  one 
answer  to  this  question  and  it  is  to  my  mind  quite  satisfactory. 
The  diseases  which  caused  the  greatest  number  of  deaths  in  our 
camps  during  that  winter  were  the  acute  respiratory  diseases 
already  mentioned  and  which  we  may  properly  denominate 
"  Crowd  diseases."  The  section  designated  is  the  most  densely 
populated  part  of  our  country,  and  a  larger  proportion  of  the 
men  coming  from  it  had  acquired  a  greater  degree  of  resistance 
to  these  diseases  than  was  possessed  by  their  more  rural  com- 
rades. Before  mobilization  of  the  army  the  pneumonias,  as 
the  vital  statistics  show,  were  urban  diseases,  reaping  their 
greatest  harvests  in  the  crowded  cities.  Those  who  had  lived 
under  urban  conditions  had  acquired  a  degree  of  immunity 
not  possessed  by  those  who  had  never  come  in  contact  with  the 
bacteria  which  cause  these  diseases. 

While  difference  in  susceptibility  to  the  acute  respiratory  in- 
fections influenced  the  death  rate  between  divisions,  it  was 
equally  in  evidence  among  the  organizations  of  the  same 
division. 

Camp  Cody  reports  that  disease  incidence  was  48  per  cent. 
higher  in  the  I34th  Infantry  than  in  the  I33rd.  The  latter  was 
made  up  of  troops  from  the  larger  cities  of  Iowa.  The  former 
included  troops  mainly  from  the  smaller  towns  of  Nebraska. 

Similarly,  disease  incidence  was  51  per  cent,  greater  in  the 
1 36th  Infantry  made  up  from  the  smaller  towns  of  Minnesota 
than  in  the  I35th  Infantry  made  up  of  men  from  the  larger 
cities  of  this  State. 

The  excess  among  rural  troops  of  such  diseases  as  measles, 


336  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

mumps  and  scarlet  fever  has  been  observed  at  Camp  Custer 
and  at  Camp  Wheeler. 

Camp  Wadsworth  reports  that  their  division  made  up  of 
Guardsmen  from  the  larger  cities  of  New  York  State  was 
practically  free  from  disease  until  March  when  about  1500 
draft  men  from  the  mountains  of  Tennessee  and  Kentucky 
were  received.  Their  arrival  had  a  marked  effect  upon  the 
disease  rate.  These  men  soon  developed  meningitis,  pneu- 
monia and  the  minor  communicable  diseases.  Their  nonef- 
fective  rate  was  three  times  that  of  the  original  division. 

The  epidemiologist  at  Camp  Doniphan  points  out  the  un- 
usually low  disease  incidence  among  city  troops  as  compared 
with  those  from  the  country.  The  I38th  Infantry  and  I28th 
Machine  Gun  Battalion  were  recruited  from  St.  Louis,  Mis- 
souri. Their  annual  pneumonia  morbidity  rates  from  October 
to  March  were  15  to  25  respectively.  The  I37th  Infantry  and 
1 29th  Field  Artillery  were  from  the  small  towns  of  Kansas. 
Their  corresponding  rates  were  65.  and  50.  respectively. 

Of  course  the  men  who  lived  through  the  winter  of  1917-18 
in  our  large  camps  became  thoroughly  urbanized  so  far  as  con- 
cerned their  reactions  to  crowd  diseases.  There  is  probably 
no  city  in  the  world  in  which  contact  between  individuals  is  so 
close  and  so  intimate  as  in  a  large  military  camp.  It  is  gener- 
ally believed  that  the  greatest  dangers  from  over  crowding, 
so  far  as  the  spread  of  disease  is  concerned,  are  found  in  the 
sleeping  quarters.  This  certainly  was  not  true  of  our  camps. 
The  most  dangerous  contact  is  during  the  waking  hours,  at 
mess,  at  drill,  in  canteens,  in  assembly  halls,  when  every  one 
is  coughing  and  each  inhaling  the  spray  from  his  neighbor. 
There  is  no  evidence  that  cramped  sleeping  quarters  played 
an  important  role  in  the  spread  of  disease  in  our  camps.  In- 
deed, some  camps  with  the  most  crowded  sleeping  quarters 
had  low  death  rates.  The  writer  was  in  an  assembly  hall,  with 
every  one  of  quite  5030  seats  occupied  and  it  seemed  that  at 
least  every  other  man  was  coughing.  Measurements  were 
made  and  it  was  found  that  the  greatest  possible  distance  be- 


PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE  AND  THE  WAR     337 

tween  the  noses  of  adjoining  neighbors  either  laterally  or  from 
front  to  rear  was  less  than  26  inches.  The  whole  atmosphere 
was  filled  with  the  spray  of  coughing  and  no  radical  changes 
would  have  been  secured  by  removing  the  walls  and  roof  of 
the  hall.  In  other  words,  men  may  be  dangerously  crowded, 
so  far  as  exposure  to  disease  is  concerned,  while  out  of  doors, 
and  moreover,  camp  crowding,  when  new  men  are  being  made 
into  seasoned  soldiers  as  quickly  as  possible,  is  a  necessity  and 
the  morbidity  and  mortality  resulting  therefrom  must  be  ac- 
cepted as  one  of  the  conditions  imposed  upon  itself  by  any 
nation  which  neglects  military  preparation  until  the  last  mo- 
ment and  then  hastens  to  do  what  could  be  better  done  without 
such  haste.  Our  draft  men  were  assembled  directly  from  their 
homes  in  their  ordinary  clothing,  bearing  multiple  and  varied 
infective  agents,  the  clean  brought  into  contact  with  the  un- 
clean, crowded  on  to  troop  trains  and  sent  to  camp.  Not  a 
troop  train  reached  Camp  Wheeler  in  the  fall  of  1917  which 
did  not  have  one  or  more  cases  of  fully  developed  measles, 
with  unknown  numbers  of  exposures,  when  it  reached  camp. 
The  control  of  infectious  diseases  under  these  conditions  is  a 
different  problem  from  that  which  the  civilian  health  officer 
has  to  deal  with  in  a  more  stabile  population.  These  men 
should  have  been  assembled  in  groups  of  not  more  than  30, 
bathed  and  barbered,  clothed  in  sterilized  uniform,  held  in 
quarantine  for  14  days  and  sent  to  camp  in  these  small  groups 
and  then  held  under  quarantine  for  at  least  10  days  longer, 
before  being  allowed  to  mingle  with  other  groups.  But  the 
exigencies  of  the  situation  did  not  admit  of  this  procedure. 
The  purpose  was  of  necessity  to  convert  civilians  into  effective 
soldiers  as  soon  as  possible  and  not  to  make  a  demonstration  in 
preventive  medicine  and  this  was  done  more  effectively  and 
with  less  loss  in  sickness  and  death  than  has  been  accomplished 
in  any  previous  war.  At  the  beginning  of  the  Civil  War  com- 
panies and  larger  organizations  had  to  be  disbanded  and  sent 
home  temporarily  after  assembly,  on  account  of  outbreaks 
of  infectious  diseases. 


338  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


THE   SUMMER   OF 

During  this  period  the  great  majority  of  the  men  who  oc- 
cupied the  camps  during  the  preceding  winter  went  to  France 
and  their  places  were  filled  by  newly  drafted  men.  Moreover, 
the  plan  of  the  preceding  fall  by  which  men  from  definite  sec- 
tions were  sent  to  certain  camps  was  abandoned  and  the  dif- 
ferent camps  were  devoted  to  training  in  special  lines  of  serv- 
ice. One  became  an  Artillery,  another  an  Engineer  camp,  etc. 

The  proportion  of  seasoned  men  left  in  the  different  camps 
varied  greatly  and  this  had  a  marked  influence  on  the  death 
rate  in  the  different  camps  in  the  fall  of  1918. 

The  annual  death  rate  per  1000  for  the  summer  months 
was  5.7,  practically  the  same  as  that  of  civilians  in  the  age 
group  20-29  years  during  the  winter  months.  For  the  cor- 
responding five  months  of  the  summer  of  1916  the  death  rate 
from  all  causes  for  this  age  group  in  civilian  life  is  estimated 
at  4.6.  Consequently  the  rate  of  5.7  for  the  army  is  still  a 
trifle  above  that  of  civilian  life.  This  is  a  remarkable  showing 
for  although  the  army  is  composed  of  men  selected  on  account 
of  superior  physical  qualities  and  who  might  be  expected  to 
have  a  lower  death  rate  than  the  average  among  those  of  their 
own  age,  still  when  we  consider  the  hazard  that  is  always  as- 
sociated with  the  mobilization  of  large  numbers  for  military 
service,  the  rate  of  5.7  for  the  Summer  Season  may  be  pointed 
to  with  pardonable  pride. 

During  the  summer  season  pneumonia  continued  to  be  the 
chief  cause  of  death.  However,  the  greatest  mortality  oc- 
curred during  the  months  of  April  and  May  and  was  most 
manifest  among  new  increments  from  civil  life.  Contrary 
to  the  experience  of  the  preceding  winter  the  pneumonias  pre- 
vailed most  extensively  in  the  middle  western  camps.  Measles 
was  much  less  prevalent  and  was  confined  to  new  men  because 
it  had  exhausted  the  susceptible  material  among  the  troops 
which  had  passed  the  winter  in  service.  It  was  expected  that 
typhoid  fever  and  dysentery  would  be  more  in  evidence  dur- 


PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE  AND  THE  WAR      339 

ing  the  summer,  but  neither  became  epidemic.  The  annual 
death  rate  for  typhoid  fever  during  this  season  was  3.3  per 
100,000.  When  we  compare  this  with  the  death  rate  of  897 
per  100,000  in  the  summer  of  1898  we  can  have  some  appre- 
ciation of  the  great  advance  in  the  prevention  of  this  disease 
which  for  many  centuries  has  been  the  captain  of  the  cohorts 
of  death  in  the  armies  of  the  world.  Even  this  showing  would 
have  been  surpassed  had  not  some  men  reached  the  camps  in 
an  infected  state.  Typhoid  fever  was  prevented  by  the 
chlorination  of  the  water  supplies  and  by  specific  vaccination. 
Incidentally  the  first  of  these  proceedings  prevented  dysentery, 
diarrhea  and  similar  gastro-intestinal  ailments.  Although 
some  of  the  camps  were  located  in  malarial  districts,  so  effi- 
cient was  the  destruction  of  mosquitoes  that  there  is  no  evi- 
dence that  any  soldier  was  infected  by  these  pests  in  any  camp. 
There  were  a  few  cases  but  all  such  brought  the  infection  with 
them  and  proper  treatment  made  short-shift  of  these,  undesired 
guests. 

THE   AUTUMN   OF    1918 

Early  in  September  came  the  great  pandemic  of  influenza 
with  pneumonia.  This  is  the  most  deadly  pestilence  which 
has  ever  visited  us  and  it  ranks  high  among  the  epidemics  of 
history  as  is  shown  in  Table  4. 

Preventive  medicine  is  making  rapid  progress.  Malaria 
and  typhoid  fever,  once  the  scourges  of  armies,  are  well  in 
hand.  Typhus  is  no  longer  an  enigma  but  still  requires  close 
watching.  The  pneumonias  remain  and  constitute  at  present 
the  greatest  cause  of  death  in  all  armies.  Protective  inocula- 
tion against  the  pneumonias  has  been  tried  only  recently,  and 
the  results  are  promising.  The  combination  of  influenza  and 
pneumonia  has  been  most  distressing  and  disastrous  both  in 
military  and  in  civilian  populations.  During  the  Autumn  Sea- 
son of  1918,  civilian  communities  suffered  greatly  but  on  ac- 
count of  the  high  concentration  of  susceptible  material  in  our 
camps,  the  death  rate  among  soldiers  has  been  higher  than 


340 


THE  NEW  WORLD  QF  SCIENCE 


£**&& 


oo   *o       op 
POf^Tj-<N 


Tt  oo    «o 
o)    M    o 


CKtxlOfOO)     N 


Oo"-i_ii-,i-i 


§§ 


cT  o   10  qo    o  oo  OD   M 

O^tfOCDO  MVO 

IT)  HH        LO  tX 


888 

tN.lOtX 


00    O 

<*  S 


$£<s 

tx    H     co 


c/5     to  in     tn 

gr;     tn^^gi-;     co     M     c<a     c/a     cfl     eft 

titi^tf-S*^'^^^'^'^^ 


G     G     G 
O    O     O 

S  6  S 


lls-lit 


pu  u  u 


CO 


'5  § 
2  S 


•I  •§ 
II 


§  § 


3.  1Influenza-Pneu 
4.  1Influenza-Pneu 
5.  Poliomyeliti 


PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE  AND  THE  WAR     341 

among  civilians.  No  part  of  the  world  has  escaped  this  great 
scourge.  In  the  past,  there  have  been  pandemics,  but  none, 
so  far  as  we  have  statistical  evidence,  has  wrought  such  heavy 
destruction  as  this  over  so  wide  an  area.  Hitherto  the  pan- 
demic of  1889-90  has  been  looked  upon  as  the  most  widespread 
and  probably  the  most  fatal.  At  that  time  more  than  40  per 
cent,  of  the  population  of  Massachusetts  was  affected  but  the 
death  rate  was  not  so  high.  The  pandemic  of  1918,  when  com- 
pared with  that  of  1889-90  is  estimated  to  have  caused  six 
times  as  many  deaths. 

During  the  four  autumn  months  of  1918,  338,343  cases  of  in- 
fluenza were  reported  to  the  Surgeon  General.  This  means 
that  in  the  camps  of  this  country  one  out  of  every  jour  men 
had  influenza. 

The  combination -between  influenza  and  pneumonia  during 
the  fall  of  1918  seems  to  have  been  closer  and  more  destructive 
than  in  any  previous  pandemic.  During  the  autumn  season 
there  were  reported  to  the  Surgeon  General  61,691  cases  of 
pneumonia.  This  means  that  one  out  of  every  twenty-four 
men  encamped  in  this  country  had  pneumonia. 

During  the  same  period  22,186  men  were  reported  to  have 
died  from  the  combined  effects  of  influenza  and  pneumonia. 
This  means  that  among  the  troops  in  this  country  one  out  of 
every  sixty-seven  died. 

This  fatality  has  been  unparalleled  in  recent  times.  The  in- 
fluenza epidemic  of  1918  ranks  well  up  with  the  epidemics 
famous  in  history.  Epidemiologists  have  regarded  the  dis- 
semination of  cholera  from  the  Broad  Street  Well  in  London 
as  a  catastrophe.  The  typhoid  epidemic  of  Plymouth,  Pa., 
of  1885,  is  another  illustration  of  the  damage  that  can  be  done 
by  epidemic  disease  once  let  loose.  Yet  the  accompanying 
table  shows  that  the  fatality  from  influenza  and  pneumonia  at 
Camp  Sherman  was  greater  than  either  of  these.  Compared 
with  epidemics  for  which  we  have  fairly  accurate  statistics,  the 
death  rate  at  Camp  Sherman  in  the  fall  of  1918  is  surpassed 


342  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

only  by  that  of  Plague  in  London  in  1665  and  that  of  yellow 
fever  in  Philadelphia  in  1793. 

The  Plague  killed  14  per  cent,  of  London's  population  in 
seven  months'  time.  Yellow  fever  destroyed  10  per  cent,  of 
the  population  of  Philadelphia  in  four  months.  In  seven  weeks 
influenza  and  pneumonia  killed  3.1  per  cent,  of  the  strength  at 
Camp  Sherman.  If  we  consider  the  time  factor,  these  three 
instances  are  not  unlike  in  their  lethality.  The  Plague  killed 
2  per  cent,  of  the  population  in  a  month,  yellow  fever  2.5  per 
cent  and  influenza  and  pneumonia  1.9  per  cent. 

In  four  months  typhoid  fever  killed  1.5  per  cent,  of  the  sol- 
diers encamped  in  this  country  during  the  war  with  Spain. 
Influenza  and  pneumonia  killed  1.4  per  cent,  of  the  soldiers  in 
our  camps  in  1918  and  it  also  covered  a  period  of  four  months. 

During  the  Winter  of  1917-18,  Camp  Pike  showed  the  high- 
est death  rate  of  the  larger  camps;  this  was  due  for  the  most 
part  to  pneumonia  to  some  extent  following  measles.  In  four- 
teen weeks  Pike  lost  0.9  per  cent,  of  its  strength.  This  is  about 
one  third  of  Sherman's  loss,  but  the  deaths  at  Sherman  oc- 
curred in  one-half  the  time.  In  the  Winter  of  1917-18,  Camp 
Beauregard  showed  the  highest  weekly  incidence  for  measles. 
It  amounted  to  an  annual  admission  rate  per  1000  of  2,700. 
In  the  fall  of  1918  Beauregard  had  an  influenza  admission  rate 
during  one  week  of  15,000.  The  1917  epidemic  looks  insig- 
nificant compared  to  that  of  1918  and  yet  at  the  time  it  was 
regarded  with  grave  concern.  Philadelphia  headed  the  large 
cities  in  influenza  fatality  in  this  country,  losing  0.8  per  cent, 
of  its  population.  This  is  about  one-fourth  of  the  loss  at 
Sherman. 

The  pandemic  of  influenza  in  1918  seems  to  have  been  more 
closely  associated  with  the  pneumonias  than  appears  in  any 
previous  pandemic.  From  reports  sent  to  the  Surgeon  Gen- 
ral's  Office,  it  appears  that  uncomplicated  influenza  was  not 
by  any  means  a  fatal  disease  and  that  the  high  death  rate  was 
due  to  the  pneumonias  which  followed.  Pneumonia  is  a  seri- 
ous disease  at  all  times.  Recent  records  for  the  United  States 


\ 
PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE  AND  THE  WAR      343 

Army  show  that  the  case  morbidity  rate  for  this  disease  has 
been  as  follows  during  the  different  periods  of  the  last  two 
years : 

The  year  of  1917 11.2  per  cent. 

6  Winter  months  1917-18 23.1  per  cent. 

5  Summer  months  1918 18.8  per  cent. 

4  Autumn  months  1918 34.4  per  cent. 

(influenza  period) 

It  is  not  strange  that  once  pneumonia  secured  a  foothold  in 
patients  already  weakened  by  influenza  their  chances  of  recov- 
ery were  lessened. 

The  pneumococcus  has  been  long  regarded  as  the  chief  cause 
of  pneumonia.  Of  this  organism  four  distinct  types  are  rec- 
ognized in  this  country.  The  fourth  type  is  in  reality  a 
heterogeneous  group  which  includes  many  organisms  which 
may  cause  pneumonia  and  yet  whose  agglutinations  and  other 
reactions  have  not  been  recognized  with  a  sufficient  degree  of 
accuracy  to  be  accepted  as  a  means  of  identification.  During 
the  past  year,  it  has  been  impressed  upon  us  more  forcibly 
than  before  that  other  organisms  than  the  pneumococcus  may 
cause  clinical  pneumonia.  The  streptococcus  and  the  staphy- 
lococcus,  at  least  certain  varieties  of  these  organisms,  have 
produced  clinical  pneumonia  in  our  camps.  One  reading  the 
reports  that  have  been  sent  in  from  army  camps  in  all  parts  of 
the  country  is  impressed  by  the  lack  of  agreement  as  to  the 
bacteriology  which  has  been  responsible  both  for  influenza  and 
the  accompanying  pneumonia.  So  far  as  influenza  is  con- 
cerned, the  descriptions  of  the  clinical  symptoms  agree.  There 
is  no  question  but  that  the  same  disease  clinically  has  existed 
in  Massachusetts,  Kansas  and  California.  In  one  place,  how- 
ever, the  Pfeiffer  bacillus,  in  another  the  streptococcus  hemo- 
lyticus  and  in  a  third  some  form  of  the  pneumococcus  has  been 
believed  to  be  the  cause  of  the  disease.  Suspicion  has  also 
been  cast  upon  various  strains  of  streptococcus,  the  micro- 


344  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

coccus  catarrhalis  and  the  staphylococcus.  In  one  laboratory 
there  has  been  no  difficulty  in  isolating  the  Pfeiffer  bacillus 
from  the  throats  of  influenza  patients;  in  another  this  organ- 
ism has  not  been  found  and  good  reason  is  furnished  to  sup- 
port the  belief  that  the  disease  is  of  purely  streptococcic  origin. 
These  differences  of  opinion  with  respect  to  the  initial  cause 
of  the  infection  have  existed  to  a  like  degree  in  the  case  of 
the  pneumococcic  organisms  which  have  been  recovered  from 
the  throats  of  the  sick.  One  camp  reports  more  of  one  type 
of  pneumococcus  than  another.  There  is  agreement  merely 
in  the  excessive  numbers  of  type  four,  but  we  must  remember 
that  this  is  only  a  "  waste  basket  "  group.  Pneumococci  which 
do  not  respond  to  reactions  characteristic  of  type  one,  two, 
or  three  are  placed  in  group  four.  It  follows,  therefore,  that 
the  information  that  type  four  has  prevailed  during  the  epi- 
demic is  not  altogether  satisfactory. 

In  the  face  of  these  contradictory  reports,  not  only  from 
army  camps  but  from  civilian  laboratories  as  well,  we  are  handi- 
capped in  determining  the  true  cause  of  the  disease.  Basing 
our  opinion  on  the  information  at  hand,  we  make  the  following 
tentative  statements : 

1.  Influenza  is  an  acute,  highly  infectious  disease  of  unknown 
origin,  characterized  by  the  production  of   a  marked  leuco- 
penia  which  results  in  withdrawal  of  the  natural  defenses  of 
the  body  and  the  opening  up  of  the  paths  of  invasion  for  other 
pathogenic  organisms  which  may  be  present.       .< 

2.  We  are  of  the  opinion  that  one  reason  for  the  variation 
in  the  manfestations  and  course  of  the  disease  in  different  com- 
munities has  been  due  to  difference  in  the  combinations  of 
organisms  which  have  worked  symbiotically  with  the  specific 
cause  of   influenza.     This   accounts    for  the   finding   of   one 
organism  prevalent  in  one  place  and  another  organism  domi- 
nant in  another. 

3.  We  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  epidemic  of  influenza  which 
occurred  in  the  fall  of  1918  was  not  a  new  entity  but  a  recur- 
rence or  reappearance  in  a  more  virulent  form  of  a  disease 


PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE  AND  THE  WAR     345 

which  had  prevailed  in  the  various  army  camps  during  the 
previous  year.  Our  justification  for  this  statement  is  that 
there  are  many  incidents  of  people  who  largely  escaped  the 
disease  in  the  fall  and  who  had  experienced  or  lived  through 
a  similar  but  much  milder  epidemic  during  the  previous  spring. 
In  other  words,  we  may  say  the  soldiers  who  had  clinical  in- 
fluenza in  camp  prior  to  August  and  those  who,  although  hav- 
ing no  clinical  manifestations  of  the  disease,  lived  through 
such  an  epidemic,  were  less  gravely  affected  when  the  more 
virulent  organisms  reached  them  in  the  fall. 

4.  We  believe  that  the  largest  single  factor  influencing  the 
spread  of  influenza  is  the  susceptibility  of  the  individuals  among 
whom  it  has  been  introduced.     If  these  individuals  have  been 
once  attacked  by  the  disease  even  in  a  mild  form  or  lived 
through  a  mild  epidemic  without  showing  clinical  symptoms, 
they  suffer  less  when  the  disease  is  again  introduced.     Among 
communities  not   previously   exposed   to   influenza,   this    dis- 
ease has  usually  involved  from  20  to  50  per  cent,  of  the  per- 
sonnel.    The  exact  number  affected  is  determined  by  the  num- 
ber of  people  who  are  naturally  immune  or  have  secured  im- 
munity by  previous  exposure. 

5.  It  appears  that  natural  immunity  gives  way  before  ex- 
posure, over-work  and  fatigue,  as  was  demonstrated  years  ago 
by  Pasteur  in  his  experiments  on  birds  with  anthrax.     Like- 
wise, it  is  possible  for  human  beings  to  have  their  resistance 
lowered  by  exposure  to  unaccustomed  environment  so  that  al- 
though  naturally   immune,   the   standard  of   immunity   is   re- 
duced to  the  point  where  the  influenza  virus  gains  admittance, 
and  overcomes  the  lowered  resistance. 

6.  We  believe  that  not  only  the  rapidity  with  which  the  dis- 
ease spreads,  but  its  virulence  is  in  direct  proportion  to  the 
density  of  the  susceptible  population.     In  communities   such 
as  army  camps  and  large  cities,  the  contact  of  individuals  is 
so  close  and  so  intimate  that  even  though  extra  precautions 
are  taken  it  is  quite  impossible  to  prevent  disease  from  ul- 
timately  reaching  all  persons.     Precautions   such  as  quaran- 


346  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

tine,  spreading  out  of  the  personnel,  closing  places  of  assembly, 
delay  the  progress  of  the  disease  but  fail  wholly  to  prevent  it. 

The  death  rate  from  disease  was  lower  in  the  A.  E.  F.  than 
in  the  camps  in  this  country.  The  more  susceptible  had  been 
eliminated  by  sickness  or  death  before  the  Divisions  pro- 
ceeded to  France.  However,  the  rates  for  individual  diseases 
showed  some  interesting  variations  both  in  morbidity  and  mor- 
tality. There  was,  quite  naturally,  but  little  measles  in  the 
A.  E.  F.,  for  the  simple  reason  that  the  susceptible  material 
had  been  practically  consumed  in  the  camps  in  this  country. 
On  the  other  hand  the  morbidity  from  scarlet  fever  and  menin- 
gitis was  higher  in  the  A.  E.  F.  There  were  probably  several 
factors  involved  in  this.  One  of  these  was  the  greater  diffi- 
culty in  the  early  recognition  of  cases  and  in  their  speedy  and 
effective  isolation.  We  have  no  data  concerning  the  preva- 
lence of  these  diseases  among  the  civilian  and  military  popu- 
lation of  France  in  areas  occupied  by  our  troops  and  conse- 
quently we  cannot  evaluate  this  factor.  Typhoid  fever  and 
dysentery  were  constantly  more  prevalent  in  the  A.  E.  F. 
The  purification  of  drinking  water  in  an  active  battle  area 
must  be  unsatisfactory.  Intense  thirst  drives  men  to  drink 
water  from  any  and  every  available  source.  Moreover,  ex- 
perience demonstrates  that  the  protection  against  typhoid  fever 
furnished  by  vaccination  is  not  absolute  and  may  be  overcome 
by  massive  doses  of  the  infection.  While  the  morbidity  rate 
from  this  disease  in  the  A.  E.  F.  at  no  time  approached  that 
of  former  wars  it  was  quite  constantly  higher  than  in  our  home 
camps.  No  bacterial  vaccination,  not  even  one  attack  of  the 
disease,  gives  unlimited  protection.  Typhoid,  when  it  de- 
velopes  among  the  vaccinated,  is  in  no  constant  and  essential 
way  different  from  the  same  disease  among  the  unvaccinated. 
Complications  and  death  rate  are  essentially  the  same  in  the 
two  conditions. 

Venereal  diseases  increased  in  every  camp  with  each  incre- 
ment from  the  civilian  population.  Indeed,  one  can  look  at 
the  venereal  chart  of  any  division  and  tell  from  its  peaks  just 


PREVENTIVE  MEDICINE  AND  THE  WAR      347 

when  recruits  were  received.  These  diseases  showed  much 
higher  rates  in  the  home  camps  than  in  the  A.  E.  F.  While 
this  curse  was  by  no  means  eliminated  in  our  armies  in  France, 
the  low  rate  is  a  credit  to  the  morals  of  our  sons  and  the  ef- 
ficiency of  medical  officers. 

Naturally  there  was  but  little  malaria  in  the  A.  E.  F.  Those 
who  came  into  the  home  camps  bearing  the  parasites  of  this 
disease  were  for  the  most  part  sterilized  with  quinine  before 
going  to  France. 

Pneumonia  was  the  most  prolific  cause  of  death  in  all  our 
armies  in  every  country  and  at  all  seasons.  The  morbidity 
rates  from  this  disease  ran  from  October,  1917,  to  September, 
1918,  about  on  the  same  level,  crossing  and  recrossing,  but 
never  separating  widely,  in  the  A.  E.  F.  and  the  home  camps. 

With  the  advent  of  the  virulent  influenza  in  September,  1918, 
both  lines  made  an  abrupt  ascent,  but  the  peak  of  the  curve 
representing  the  home  troops  reaches  nearly  six  times  the 
height  of  that  for  the  A.  E.  F.  Why  this  great  difference? 
The  divisions  constituting  the  A.  E.  F.  in  October,  1918,  had 
occupied  the  home  camps  the  winter  before  and  had  left  their 
most  susceptible  men  in  the  hospitals  and  cemeteries  in  this 
country  when  they  went  abroad.  Those  who  filled  the  home 
camps  in  the  fall  of  1918  were  for  the  most  part  recently  drawn 
from  their  scattered  homes  in  which  they  had  never  come  in 
contact  with  the  bacteria  of  crowd  diseases.  Our  statistical 
data,  morbidity  and  mortality  curves,  fail  to  give  us  the  real 
facts.  They  do  not  show  the  relative  percentage  of  immunes 
in  the  two  bodies  which  we  are  comparing  nor  do  they  indicate 
the  losses  by  sickness  and  death  incurred  in  the  transforma- 
tion of  new  into  seasoned  troops. 

Seasoned  soldiers,  as  represented  by  our  troops  in  France, 
bore  even  a  new  infection  —  that  of  influenza  —  better  than 
their  raw  comrades  in  this  country.  This  suggests  that  there 
exists  a  non-specific  immunity,  which  is  of  value,  but  is  tran- 
sitory, fluctuating  in  its  protective  power  and  hardly  comparable 
with  specific  immunity  such  as  has  been  secured  in  typhoid 


348  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

fever.  At  the  present  time  one  seems  forced  to  conclude  that 
the  control  of  the  pneumonias  is  most  likely  to  be  found  in  some 
form  of  vaccination  and  since  these  diseases  are  caused  by 
multiple  bacteria,  the  vaccine,  must,  as  is  the  case  in  typhoid 
fever,  be  polyvalent. 


THE  ROLE  OF  PSYCHOLOGY 
IN  THE  WAR 


XX 

*/ 

HOW  PSYCHOLOGY  HAPPENED  INTO  THE  WAR1 
ROBERT  M.  YERKES 

IT  has  been  said  that  the  application  of  psychology  to  adver- 
tising rendered  it  respectable  and  that  its  applications  to 
war  advertised  it  widely  and  favorably  and  created  an  un- 
precedented demand  for  its  services.  The  name  itself  seriously 
interfered  with  early  developments  in  the  army  because  of 
very  common  misconceptions  and  confusions.  Psychology 
meant  to  the  average  army  officer  something  wholly  intangible, 
even  mysterious.  He  thought  of  its  methods  as  akin  to  those 
of  the  spiritualist,  the  devotee  of  psychical  research,  or  those 
of  the  "  medium."  There  also  occurred  very  naturally  serious 
confusion  of  psychology  with  psychiatry  in  the  minds  of  non- 
medical  officers.  This  worked  to  the  disadvantage  of  both 
subjects,  because  of  their  diverse  aims,  requirements,  and 

1  The   following  reports  present  complete  accounts   of  the   various 
lines  of  psychological  service  in  the  army  and  the  navy: 
Psychology  in  Relation  to  the  War,  by  Robert  M.  Yerkes.     Psycho- 
logical Review,  Vol.  25,  1918,  pp.  85-115. 

Report  of  the  Psychology  Committee  of  the  National  Research  Coun- 
cil.   By  Robert  M.  Yerkes.    Psychological  Review,  Vol.  26,  1919, 
pp.  83-149. 
Army  Mental   Tests.    Edited  by  C.   S.  Yoakum  and   R.  M.   Yerkes. 

Pp.  xiii-303.    Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1920. 

Psychological  Examining  in  the  United  States  Army  (official  report). 
Memoirs  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences,  Vol.  XV.,  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.  (in  press). 

The  Personnel  System  of  the  United  States  Army.  Vol.  I,  History 
of  the  Personnel  System;  Vol.  II,  The  Personnel  Manual.  Pub- 
lished by  the  War  Department,  Washington,  D.  C.,  1919. 

351 


352  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

relations.  Fortunately  alike  for  the  science  of  psychology 
and  the  army,  the  practical  work  which  is  to  be  described  in 
these  chapters  over-rode  the  disadvantages  of  its  name  and 
ultimately  converted  psychology  into  a  word  to  conjure  with 
in  the  United  States  Army. 

There  probably  were  few  greater  surprises  in  the  war  than 
the  conspicuously  important  service  of  psychology.  Aside 
from  the  few  who  were  professionally  engaged  in  the  subject 
no  one  thought  of  the  study  of  mental  life  as  having  any  pos- 
sible practical  bearing  on  the  problems  of  war.  The  writer 
well  remembers  listening  to  General  Squier  present  before  a 
meeting  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences  in  Washington 
in  the  spring  of  1917  the  necessity  for  the  study  of  problems 
of  military  clothing.  Among  the  many  problems  whose  so- 
lution, in  his  judgment,  would  favorably  affect  the  efficiency 
of  our  army  there  were  several  which  the  writer  recognized  as 
primarily  psychological.  It  happens  that  neither  the  War 
Department  nor  the  scientists  of  the  country,  through  their 
instrument  of  organization,  the  National  Research  Council, 
succeeded  in  getting  around  to  any  of  these  problems,  but  had 
time  sufficed  and  opportunity  for  such  work  appeared,  psycholo- 
gists would  have  cooperated  with  physiologists,  and  chemists 
and  physicists,  in  the  careful  determination  of  kind  and  quality 
of  materials  to  be  used,  most  serviceable,  sightly,  and  comfort- 
able style  and  cut,  and  numerous  other  special  characteristics 
of  the  assemblage  of  garments  which  constitute  the  soldier's 
outfit  of  clothing. 

The  National  Research  Council  had  made  only  small  head- 
way toward  the  solution  of  military  problems  before  it  met 
certain  definite  needs  which  called  for  the  psychological  ex- 
pert. As  a  result  a  committee  for  psychology  was  organized 
and  from  that  hour  the  psychologists  of  the  country  worked 
side  by  side  with  investigators  representing  the  medical  sciences, 
various  branches  of  biology,  anthropology,  geology  and 
geography,  physics,  chemistry  and  engineering.  Throughout 
this  large  and  heterogeneous  group  of  investigators  there  ex- 


PSYCHOLOGY  353 

isted  a  splendid  spirit  of  cooperation  and  of  appreciation  of 
one  another's  efforts  to  serve. 

One  of  the  first  obviously  psychological  problems  which  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  National  Research  Council  by 
the  Government  was  the  need  of  reliable  methods  for  selecting 
the  best  men  to  serve  as  lookout  and  gun  pointers  on  armed 
merchant  vessels.  This,  like  many  other  suggestions  and  re- 
quests for  assistance  from  the  navy  and  the  army,  was  referred 
to  a  competent  scientist,  who  finally  succeeded  in  developing 
highly  useful  methods.  It  is  fair  to  say  that  the  efforts  of 
psychologists  to  make  themselves  useful  in  the  war  were  suc- 
cessful from  the  very  start.  The  authorities  of  the  National 
Research  Council  recognized  this  fact,  but  they  were  never- 
theless greatly  surprised,  at  first  by  the  ambition  of  the  psycho- 
logical profession  to  help  win  the  war,  a  little  later  by  the 
psychologists'  expectations  of  success,  and  finally  by  the  actual 
achievements. 

Even  before  war  had  been  declared  individual  psycholo- 
gists had  been  thinking  of  ways  in  which  their  science  might 
be  applied  to  military  problems.  On  April  6,  1917,  a  group  of 
experimental  psychologists,  then  in  session  at »  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  appointed  a  committee  to  consider  the  relation 
of  psychology  to  military  affairs  and  to  further  its  application 
to  practical  problems.  This  was  the  beginning  of  concerted 
action.  From  that  day  the  psychologists  of  the  country  acted 
unitedly  as  well  as  disinterestedly  and  whole-heartedly.  In 
other  countries  psychologists  served  conspicuously,  but  always 
as  individuals  and  seldom  in  their  professional  role. 

The  national  psychological  association  of  this  country  imme- 
diately interested  itself  in  the  question  of  service  and  commit- 
tees were  speedily  appointed  to  work  systematically  on  such  im- 
portant tasks  as  (i)  the  assembling  and  digesting  of  psychologi- 
cal literature  relating  to  military  affairs  so  that  we  might  make 
use  of  the  latest  and  the  best  information  from  all  parts  of  the 
world;  (2)  the  psychological  examination  of  recruits;  (3) 
psychological  problems  of  aviation;  (4)  the  selection  of  men 


354  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

for  tasks  requiring  special  mental  aptitude;  (5)  problems  of 
recreation  and  amusement  in  the  army  and  navy;  (6)  problems 
of  vision;  (7)  pedagogical  and  psychological  problems  of  mili- 
tary training  and  discipline;  (8)  problems  of  incapacity,  in- 
cluding those  of  shell  shock  and  reeducation;  (9)  problems  of 
emotional  instability,  fear  and  inadequate  self-control;  (10) 
methods  of  influencing  the  morale  of  the  enemy;  (n)  problems 
of  hearing  affecting  military  activities;  (12)  tests  of  deception. 

This  list  will  give  the  reader  some  idea  of  the  range  of  in- 
terest in  military  problems  which  existed  among  psychologists 
even  before  they  had  had  opportunity  to  observe  directly  the 
needs  o^the  army  and  the  navy.  Altogether  during  the  war 
more  than  a  score  of  committees  of  psychologists  furthered  the 
applications  of  their  science  to  the  military  situation.  Most 
of  them  rendered  effective  service.  But  it  was  shortly  dis- 
covered that  committee  action  and  the  work  of  civilian  psy- 
chologists would  not  suffice.  In  many  instances,  it  was  abso- 
lutely essential  that  the  scientists  who  wished  to  serve  even  in 
their  professional  capacity  should  become  parts  of  the  military 
machine.  There  was  no  hesitation  about  accepting  such  re- 
sponsibility, although  it  often  entailed  serious  personal  sacri- 
fice. There  existed  everywhere  faith  in  the  possibility  of  use- 
fulness, determination  to  serve  successfully,  and  a  desire  to 
get  together  and  cooperate  effectively. 

The  spring  and  summer  of  1917  saw  little  progress  toward 
psychological  military  service  beyond  that  of  organization. 
There  were  few  good  leads  and  the  unprejudiced  observer  of 
the  activities  of  American  psychologists  might  fairly  have  con- 
cluded that  all  their  eagerness  and  busyness  would  contribute 
nothing  to  our  military  success  unless  these  scientifically  in- 
clined individuals  exchanged  their  habitually  professional  roles 
for  that. of  the  combatant  soldier. 

By  the  middle  of  summer  the  situation  began  to  change 
rapidly,  for  the  War  Department  had  become  aware  of  cer- 
tain possibilities  of  psychological  service.  The  first  success- 
ful approach  by  psychologists  was  made  on  the  Medical  De- 


I 


PSYCHOLOGY  355 

partment  of  the  army  through  the  National  Research  Council. 
This  was  rendered  possible  by  the  breadth  of  view,  faith,  and 
optimism  of  Colonel  Victor  C.  Vaughan,  Colonel  William  H. 
Welch,  and  Surgeon  General  William  C.  Gorgas.  The  second 
important  contact,  made  a  little  later,  was  with  the  Adjutant 
General  of  the  Army.  This  was  due  to  the  insight  and  energy, 
as  well  as  the  faith  and  enterprise,  of  Colonel  W.  D.  Scott, 
Doctor  E.  L.  Thorndike,  Mr.  F.  W.  Keppel,  later  Third  As- 
sistant Secretary  of  War,  Secretary  of  War  Baker  and  General 
McCain.  Almost  simultaneously  relations  were  established 
with  the  navy  through  the  National  Research  Council  which  en- 
abled Doctor,  subsequently  Lieutenant  Commander,  Raymond 
Dodge  to  serve  that  branch  of  the  military  organization  to 
excellent  advantage  over  a  period  of  nearly  two  years. 

Thus  during  July,  August,  and  September  of  1917  the  psy- 
chological war  organization  of  the  country  was  transformed 
into  an  effective  military  organization.  It  is  true  that  psycholo- 
gists were  used  both  in  the  Medical  Department  of  the  army 
and  in  the  office  of  the  Adjutant  General  as  civilians,  but  in 
the  majority  of  cases  the  active  members  of  the  profession  were 
ultimately  given  military  appointment  either  in  the  army  or 
the  navy. 

Viewed  in  retrospect  the  three  principal  lines  of  psycho- 
logical service  are:  psychological  examining,  conducted  under 
the  direction  of  the  Surgeon  General  of  the  Army  and  affecting 
all  arms  of  the  military  service;  the  classification  of  personnel 
in  the  army,  conducted  under  the  Adjutant  General,  and  sim- 
ilarly affecting  the  entire  army;  and,  finally,  the  study  of  spe- 
cial psychological  problems  in  the  army  and  the  navy.  The 
principal  achievements  of  psychologists  in  the  military  service 
will  be  presented  in  the  following  chapter  under  these  three 
heads. 

It  would  be  almost  as  unfair  to  the  army  and  the  navy  as 
to  the  psychologists  of  the  country  to  make  it  appear  that  the 
development  of  really  important  service  in  this  entirely  untried 
field  of  application  was  agreeably  easy.  Instead  it  was  at  many 


356  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

times  and  in  various  directions  almost  impossible.  A  few  lines 
of  work  progressed  from  the  start  smoothly,  steadily,  and  even 
rapidly.  Others,  equally  deserving  of  success,  met  obstacles 
which  were  either  insurmountable  or  wasteful  of  precious  time. 
In  many  instances  there  were  discouraging  disapprovals  and 
heartbreaking  delays,  misunderstandings  and  opposition,  which 
wasted  time  of  officers  who  should  have  been  engaged  in  in- 
creasing military  efficiency. 

As  a  fitting  introduction  to  the  chapter  on  achievements  a 
brief  statement  may  be  made  concerning  the  psychological  per- 
sonnel for  the  three  principal  lines  of  service  which  have  been 
mentioned. 

For  psychological  examining,  the  War  Department  first  au- 
thorized a  preliminary  trial  of  methods.  In  order  to  make  this 
preliminary  experiment  about  thirty  well  trained  psychologists 
were  given  either  military  appointment  in  the  Sanitary  Corps  or 
civilian  appointment  to  work  in  National  Army  cantonments 
or  in  the  office  of  the  Surgeon  General  of  the  Army.  After 
this  preliminary  work  had  satisfactorily  demonstrated  the  prac- 
tical value  of  results,  psychological  examining  was  rapidly  ex- 
tended to  the  entire  army.  For  this  purpose  a  large  number 
of  military  psychologists  were  needed.  A  school  for  military 
psychology  was  promptly  established  at  the  Medical  Officers' 
Training  Camp,  Fort  Oglethorpe,  Georgia,  where  properly 
qualified  psychologists  might  be  given  intensive  training  in 
military  drill  as  well  as  in  army  methods  of  psychological 
examining.  During  the  existence  of  this  school  approximately 
one  hundred  officers  and  more  than  three  hundred  enlisted  men 
were  trained.  At  least  two  hundred  of  these  may  fairly  be 
listed  as  professional  psychologists.  Many  of  these  men  served 
in  the  army  either  as  civilian  appointees  or  as  soldiers  for  from 
one  to  two  years.  By  some  they  have  been  stigmatized  as 
"  non-combatants "  and  have  been  subjected  to  the  unfair 
criticism  of  choosing  a  safe  service.  It  is  only  just  to  point 
out  that  a  considerable  number  of  the  psychologists  of  the 
country  preferred  combatant  service  and  were  kept  from  such 


PSYCHOLOGY  357 

service  only  by  the  insistence  of  administrative  authorities  that 
their  professional  services  were  incalculably  more  important  to 
the  army  than  their  possible  help  as  combatants. 

The  committee  on  Classification  of  Personnel  in  the  army 
likewise  organized  special  schools  in  which  large  numbers  of 
personnel  adjutants  were  trained  and  subsequently  men  for  the 
conduct  of  trades  tests. 

Although  psychological  work  received  a  large  amount  of 
unsought  publicity  during  the  war  and  many  points  ef  method 
were  thus  brought  to  the  attention  of  lay  readers,  it  may  not 
be  amiss  to  describe  very  briefly  the  principal  methods  of  classi- 
fication which  were  used  by  psychologists. 

When  a  man  is  sent  to  a  military  training  camp  he  has  al- 
ready passed  the  preliminary  draft  examination,  but  before  he 
can  qualify  as  a  soldier  he  must  also  pass  a  rigid  medical  ex- 
amination. Assuming  that  he  qualifies  on  the  basis  of  medical 
examination,  the  following  additional  information  about  him 
is  necessary  if  the  army  is  to  assign  him  intelligently  and  use 
him  to  advantage.  There  is,  first,  measurement  of  his  mental 
alertness  or  intelligence.  This  is  supplied  by  the  psychological 
examination.  Second,  the  determination,  by  personal  inter- 
view or  by  actual  measurement,  of  the  man's  occupational  train- 
ing, experience,  and  proficiency.  Assignment  should  always 
take  into  account  physique,  degree  of  intelligence,  and  occupa- 
tional value,  for  the  army  is  an  extremely  complex  social  or- 
ganization which  has  need  of  almost  all  of  the  common  occupa- 
tions engaged  in  by  civilized  man,  and,  in  varying  proportions, 
of  all  of  the  grades  of  intelligence  and  degrees  of  physical 
development  and  endurance  which  men  possess. 

If  the  best  possible  use  is  to  be  made  of  an  individual  in  the 
army,  and  for  that  matter  anywhere  else  in  society,  he  must 
be  placed  where  his  physical  qualifications  can  be  used  effec- 
tively, where  his  intelligence  is  adequate  but  not  wasted,  and 
where  his  special  occupational  training  and  experience  are 
needed.  To  put  a  well  educated,  highly  intelligent  young  fel- 
low who  is  gifted  with  the  power  of  leadership  into  the  ranks 


358  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

to  serve  as  a  private  is  inexcusably  wasteful,  and,  on  the  other 
hand,  to  commission  as  an  officer  a  man  of  meager  education, 
less  than  average  intelligence,  and  mediocre  ability  as  a  leader 
is  a  criminal  blunder. 

The  army  needed  (and  it  was  quick  to  recognize  the  need), 
these  several  sorts  of  information  about  each  man.  It  needed 
also  the  sort  of  machinery  which  would  make  use  of  this  in- 
formation in  assigning  and  training  men.  The  ideal  course 
of  things,  toward  which  events  moved  rapidly  during  the  prog- 
ress of  the  war  ran  somewhat  as  follows:  There  was,  first, 
reliable  rating  of  a  man  and  resulting  classification  in  ac- 
cordance with  physical  characteristics,  mental  ability,  and  oc- 
cupation. In  the  light  of  this  information  he  was  assigned 
to  his  place  in  the  military  machine.  He  was  then,  if  things 
fell  out  properly,  suitably  and  efficiently  trained  and  instructed 
in  the  duties  of  a  soldier.  Subsequently  he  was  skilfully  con- 
trolled and  directed,  inspiringly  led  and  heartened  in  the  day's 
work,  and  technically  as  well  as  socially  supported  both  in  the 
drudgery  of  drill  and  in  the  demands  of  action. 

The  theory  of  psychological  service  was  that  human  factors 
should  be  appreciated,  measured,  and  intelligently  used,  that  so 
far  as  feasible  chance,  personal  whim  or  bias,  and  convention 
should  be  replaced  by  action  in  the  light  of  reasonably  accurate 
and  thorough  information.  In  a  word,  that  the  army  should 
utilize  what  may  be  called  "  human  engineering,"  just  as  it 
attempts  to  utilize  other  forms  of  engineering  which  have  to  do 
primarily  with  non-living  things. 

Methods  of  psychological  examining  suitable  for  use  in  the 
army  were  not  available  at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  but  they 
were  prepared  speedily  by  a  small  group  of  experts  in  much 
the  same  fashion  that  the  Liberty  Motor  was  developed;  that 
is,  by  intensive,  highly  coordinated  work  based  upon  the  best 
information  that  could  be  assembled  from  all  available  sources. 
The  group  of  psychologists  charged  with  the  development  of 
methods  promptly  decided  that  it  would  be  entirely  too  slow 


Group  of  soldiers  at  Camp  Lee,  Virginia,  taking  the  army  psy- 
chological examination  for  literates.  This  was  before  benches 
were  provided  in  the  examining  room! 


Soldiers  scoring  psychological  examination  papers 

Figure  4 
EXAMINATION  ALPHA 


PSYCHOLOGY  359 

a  process  to  examine  soldiers  individually  and  that  consequently 
the  only  feasible  procedure  was  examination  by  large  groups. 
Group  methods  were  therefore  prepared  and  methods  of  in- 
dividual examining  were  arranged  to  supplement  as  necessary 
the  use  of  the  group  methods.  The  methods  finally  adopted 
and  used  throughout  the  army  differ  in  many  respects  from 
those  originally  prepared  and  recommended.  They  may  be 
described  very  briefly  as  follows : 

There  are  four  principal  systems  or  stages  in  the  examina- 
tion. First  comes  the  procedure  of  segregation,  by  means  of 
which  the  original  group,  which  may,  if  examining  rooms  per- 
mit, include  as  many  as  five  hundred  men,  is  split  into  two 
sub-groups:  (a)  the  literates,  men  who  can  speak  and  read 
English  fairly  well,  and  (b)  the  illiterates,  men  who  are  rela- 
tively unfamiliar  with  the  English  language.  These  two 
groups  must  necessarily  be  treated  somewhat  differently,  there- 
fore the  literates  are  given  a  group  examination  known  as 
Alpha,  which  consists  of  eight  markedly  different  tests.  This 
examination,  although  it  requires  almost  no  writing  on  the 
part  of  the  subject,  does  demand  facility  in  using  written  and 
oral  instructions.  The  illiterate  group  is  given  an  examina- 
tion know  as  Beta,  which  is  in  effect  Alpha  translated  into 
pictorial  form.  In  this  examination  pantomime  and  demon- 
stration supplant  written  and  oral  instructions. 

Each  group  examination  requires  approximately  fifty  min- 
utes. Subjects  who  fail  in  Alpha  are  ordinarily  given  oppor- 
tunity to  improve  their  ratings  by  taking  Beta,  and  subjects 
who  fail  in  Beta  are  given  individual  examination  in  order  that 
they  may  be  more  accurately  and  justly  rated  than  in  the  group 
examination  alone. 

Any  particular  individual  may  have  to  take  one,  two  or 
three  of  these  types  of  examination.  Thus,  for  example,  a  man 
of  low  grade  literacy  who  happens  to  get  into  examination 
Alpha  may  also  have  to  take  Beta  and  some  form  of  individual 
examination. 


360 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


FORM  ft 


CONFIDENTIAL.  Tbe  publication  o<  npfoduetion  of  fete  docuaottl  It  Ior»i4d«» 
by  the  tcrai  ol  the  E«plou<«  Act  of  June  15, 1917,  undo  peMMy  ola  tin*  «<  aM 
t  ol  not  mott  ihm  two  ran.  or  MIL 


GROUP  NO.. 


GROUP  EXAMINATION  ALPHA 


In  what  country  or  state  born?. 


Regiment. 


Rank , Age 

_     Ann Division 

Years  in  U.S.? Race. 

.     Weekly  Wage* 


Schooling:  Grades,  1.2. 3. 4. 5. 6  7.8:     High  or  Prep.  School,  Year  1.2.3.4:     ConegetYear  1. 2. 3.4. 

TEST1 

i.  OOOO.O 

2.    (1)  (2)  (3)  (4)  (5)  (6)  (7H8M9 


6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 

11. 
12. 


ooo  *• 
ooooo 

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP 

OOO  MILITARY  GUN   CAMP 
34.79-56-87-68-2S-82-47-27-31-64-93-71-41-S2.99 


cn 


i 


i 


I7FI  /4\  \3J  AA  \AJ  I  2  I  /6 
123456789 


.  Ftb.  *,  l»ltt  Edition,  Ftb.  14, 19K,  IM^OO- 


Figure  4.    The  first  test  of  the  group  examination  for  literate  sol- 
diers, known  as  array  Alpha. 


PSYCHOLOGY 


361 


FORM   0 

Name 


CONFIDENTIAL.  Tl*  pab&atfea  or  Kpndoctfao  of  thfc  docaxnt  ta  ferfcMdra 
bytheuratortlwbpwiMccActarjuoet!.  1917,  OKtcrpawHr  oT  •  flnc  cf  BM 
aort  tfaa  810.000  or  imprimuaatt  <rf  not  Mara  Omt  Me  JTMC*.  or  botb. 


GROUP  EXAMINATION  BETA 
Rank 


Company  __ 
la  what  country  or  state  bom  ? 


Regiment. 


Arm Divi»ioa 


Years  in  U.S.? Race. 

Weekly  Wag« 


Schooling:  Grades,  1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8:    High  or  Prep.  School,  Year  1,2,3, 4-.    College,  Yearl.2,3,4. 


TESTS 


B 


3. 


6. 


9. 


ia 


,  JaJr  10.  !»»*,  WO.OOO 


Figure  5.    The  eighth  test  of  the  examination  for  illiterate  soldiery 
known  as  army  Beta. 


362  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

Examination  papers  for  both  Alpha  and  Beta  are  scored 
rapidly  by  the  use  of  stencils  and  the  resulting  rating  is 
promptly  reported  to  the  appropriate  military  authority. 

By  means  of  this  system  of  examinations  it  is  possible  for  an 
examining  staff  consisting  of  four  psychologists  and  a  force 
of  scoring  clerks  to  examine  as  many  as  one  thousand  men 
per  day. 

Every  man  examined  by  one  or  more  of  the  procedures  de- 
scribed is  assigned  a  numerical  rating  and  in  addition  a 
letter  grade  which  indicate  his  general  intellectual  ability  or 
mental  alertness.  The  numerical  rating  is  used  only  for  sta- 
tistical purposes,  the  letter  grade  for  practical  military  pur- 
poses. The  latter  alone  is  reported  ordinarily  to  military  of- 
ficers and  recorded  on  the  soldier's  service  record  and  quali- 
fication card. 

The  letter  grades  which  are  in  use  are  defined  as  follows: 
A,  designates  very  superior  intelligence ;  B,  superior  intelli- 
gence ;  C  +,  high  average  intelligence ;  C,  average  intelligence ; 
C  — ,  low  average  intelligence  ;  D,  inferior  intelligence ;  D  — , 
very  inferior  intelligence.  The  letter  E  has  been  reserved  for 
the  designation  of  men  whose  mental  ability  is  seemingly  in- 
adequate for  regular  military  duty. 

Commissioned  officers  usually  possess  and  obviously  should 
possess  A  or  B  intelligence.  Many  excellent  non-commissioned 
officers  possess  C  or  C  +  intelligence,  but  in  the  main  this 
group  is  composed  of  men  with  C  +  or  B  ratings.  The  great 
body  of  privates  grades  C.  Men  with  D  or  D  —  intelligence 
are  usually  slow  to  learn  and  rarely  gain  promotion.  Many 
of  them,  especially  the  D  —  individuals,  cannot  be  used  to  ad- 
vantage in  a  military  emergency  which  demands  rapidity  of 
training.  The  results  of  army  mental  testing  indicate  that 
the  majority  of  D  —  and  E  soldiers  are  below  ten  years  mental 
age.  A  few  fall  as  low  as  three  or  four  years. 

The  contrast  between  A  and  D —  intelligence  becomes  im- 
pressive when  it  is  shown  that  men  of  A  intelligence  have  the 
requisite  mental  ability  to  achieve  superior  records  in  college 


PSYCHOLOGY  363 

or  professional  school,  whereas  D —  individuals  are  rarely 
able  to  pass  beyond  the  third  or  fourth  grade  of  an  elementary 
school,  however  long  they  may  attend. 

The  methods  developed  for  the  classification  of  personnel 
under  the  Adjutant  General  of  the  Army  and  for  the  solution 
of  special  problems  are  entirely  too  varied  for  description 
here.  In  the  first  instance  they  are  primarily  adaptations  of 
business  methods,  many  of  which  were  improved  and  supple- 
mented by  the  application  of  psychological  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience. 

In  the  case  of  special  psychological  problems  it  was  usually 
a  matter  of  analyzing  the  military  situation  carefully  and  of 
drawing  upon  the  resources  of  psychological  laboratories,  or 
more  often  of  psychological  skill,  for  the  particular  variety 
of  apparatus  or  technique  which  promised  to  solve  the  prob- 
lem. Ingenuity  was  at  a  premium,  but  it  could  not  be  used 
successfully  until  the  military  situation  had  been  skilfully  ana- 
lyzed and  its  important  factors  or  requirements  brought  into 
clear  light.  Several  psychologists  were  eminently  successful 
both  in  analysis  and  in  devising  or  -adapting  methods  to  cover 
the  results  of  analysis. 


XXI 

WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED  TO  THE  WAR 
ROBERT  M.  YERKES 

WITH  the  preceding  chapter  on  methods  as  an  introduc- 
tion, an  attempt  will  be  made  in  the  present  chapter  to 
state  very  briefly  what  psychology  accomplished  during  the 
war.  It  is  impossible  to  give  a  complete  account  of  the  work, 
but  results  and  practical  applications  may  be  sampled  in  such 
a  way  as  to  give  the  reader  a  fair  idea  of  the  nature  and  sig- 
nificance of  this  new  kind  of  military  service. 

- — -  Entitled  Men  ( 13792  } -Relatively  Illiterate 

•  Enlisted  Men  (82936)      Literals 

..-^---»  Corporsh          (4023) 

i    i  Sergeant*          (3393) 

O.T.C  (9240) 

— —  Officers  (8819) 


0-  D  C.-  C  C  +  B  A 

Fio.  1. — DISTRIBUTION  or  INTELLIGENCE  RATINGS  IN  TYPICAL  ARMT  GROUPS, 
BHOWINO  VALUE  OF  TESTS  IN  IDENTIFICATION  OF  OFFICER  MATERIAL.  ILLITERATE 
GROUP  GIVEN  BETA;  OTHER  GROUPS,  ALPHA. 

Figure  i.    Distribution  of  intelligence  grades  for  typical  army  groups. 

The  first  thing  which  appeared  in  the  results  of  the  psycho- 
logical examination  of  soldiers  was  remarkable  difference  in 
the  intelligence  of  individuals  and  of  army  groups.  This  fact 
was  no  surprise  to  psychologists,  but  it  created  a  profoundly 
important  impression  in  the  minds  of  military  officers  who  were 
relatively  unfamiliar  with  methods  and  results  of  mental 
measurement.  The  two  figures,  i  and  2,  will  suffice  to  indicate 

364 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED         365 

the  extent  of  these  differences.  The  one  of  these  figures,  i 
represents  the  distribution  of  the  various  grades  of  intelligence 
in  such  important  military  groups  as  enlisted  men,  non-com- 
missioned officers  (corporals  and  sergeants),  students  in  officers' 
training  camps  (O.  T.  C.),  and  officers.  The  letter  grades,  as 
has  already  been  stated  in  the  previous  chapter,  designate  from 
A  to  D  —  degrees  of  intelligence  which  range  all  the  way  from 
very  superior  (A)  to  very  inferior  (D — ).  Commissioned 
officers  of  the  United  States  Army,with  few  exceptions,  possess 
superior  or  very  superior  intelligence.  A  few  of  the  good 
officers  fall  in  the  C  -f-  class  and  a  still  smaller  number,  almost 
invariably  unsatisfactory  to  the  service,  possess  only  average 
intelligence,  designated  by  the  letter  C.  By  contrast  with  the 
officers,  illiterate  enlisted  men  usually  possess  inferior  intelli- 
gence. Many  of  them  are  very  inferior  and  relatively  few 
rise  above  the  high  average  represented  by  C  -f.  The  average 
literate  enlisted  man  possesses  that  middle  grade  ability  which 
is  designated  by  C. 

Another  method  of  representing  differences  in  intelligence 
between  important  military  groups  is  used  in  Fig.  2.  In  this 
case  the  several  grades  are  thrown  into  three  groups  which 
may  be  designated  conveniently  high,  medium,  and  low.  It  is 
noteworthy  that  commissioned  officers  are  found  only  in  the 
medium  and  high  groups,  that  students  in  officers'  training 
camps,  who  by  virtue  of  this  fact  are  candidates  for  appoint- 
ment as  officers,  occasionally  fall  in  the  low  intelligence  groups. 
White  recruits  are  rather  more  frequently  found  in  the  low 
than  in  the  high  groups,  although  the  great  majority  of  them 
are  of  medium  intelligence.  Those  soldiers  who  are  least  satis- 
factory for  military  service  and  most  expensive  are  more  often 
than  not  found  to  have  low  intelligence.  The  figure  in  ques- 
tion roughly  represents  the  results  for  four  such  groups:  dis- 
ciplinary cases,  men  ranked  by  their  officers  as  poorest  in  their 
company,  men  of  low  military  value  as  judged  by  their  officers, 
and  unteachable  men. 

The  results  of  psychological  examination  as  sampled  by  these 


366  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

two  figures  indicate  the  distribution  of  intelligence  which  existed 
when  psychological  work  was  undertaken.  The  meaning  of 
this  distribution  is  that  by  various  selectional  processes,  more  or 
less  cumbersome,  time-consuming,  and  expensive,  highly  intelli- 
gent men  become  commissioned  officers,  somewhat  less  able 

D.D-.E         O.C.C-  A  and  B 

Commissioned  Officers 
8819 


0,T.  S.Students 

9240  <m™mmtmimmmB™™mim. 

|         ]  i         miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 

Sergeants 
3393 


Corporals 
4093 


"Ten  Best  Privates 
606 


White  Recruits 
77299 


Disciplinary  Cases 

491  Camp  Dlx 


"Ten  Poorest"Prlvates 


"Men  of  Low  Military  Value" 

147  Camp  Curttr 
I  I       B 

"(Jnteachablc  Men" 

266  Camp  Hancock 


Figure  2.     The  proportions  of  low,  average,   and  high  grade  men  in 
typical  army  groups. 

men  become  sergeants  or  corporals  or  excellent  privates,  while 
the  least  intelligent  of  all  worry  along  as  poor  privates  or  as 
relatively  unteachable. 

Army  officers  to  whom  such  results  as  these  were  presented 
saw  the  point  immediately  and,  admitting  marked  differences 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED        367 


in  intelligence  among  men,  they  went  right  to  the  practical  point 
by  asking  the  psychologist  what  relation  intelligence  has  to  the 
ways  of  using  men  in  the  army  and  to  general  military  value. 
Luckily  it  was  not  difficult  to  answer  this  question  definitely 
and  satisfactorily  and  that  not  by  the  statement  of  some 
psychologist's  opinion  but  by  the  presentation  of  results  of 
measurements  made  in  the  army  itself  and  exhibited  in  their 
relations  to  the  judgments  of  experienced  officers.  A  number 
of  pictures  of  these  results  will  enable  the  reader  to  grasp 
quickly  the  significant  points. 


ABC+CC-D 


Percent 
Success 


Percent 
Failure 


(XTC. 

1375 
Men 


Figure  5.    The  relation  of  intelligence  to  success  and  failure  in  of- 
ficers' training  schools. 

Figures  5  and  6  indicate  the  relation  of  intelligence  to 
success  and  failure  in  officers'  training  camps  and  in  non- 
commissioned officers'  training  camps.  Again,  it  should  be 
emphasized  that  the  students  in  these  camps  had  been  admitted 
prior  to  psychological  examination  and  practically  without 
reference  to  their  intelligence.  The  psychological  ratings  were 
obtained  and  subsequently  were  compared  with  the  records  of 
success  and  failure  in  the  schools.  It  is  notable  that  in  both 
types  of  school,  the  proportion  of  failures  increases  steadily 


368 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


and  rapidly  from  the  very  superior  group  to  the  very  inferior 
group.  In  fact,  the  chance  that  a  man  rated  as  A  in  intelligence 
will  fail  is  just  about  the  same  as  the  chance  that  a  man  who  is 
rated  D  in  intelligence  will  succeed  in  the  work  of  the  school. 
Almost  all  of  the  A  and  B  groups  and  fully  three-fourths  of  the 
C  +  grouP  pass.  Almost  all  of  the  inferior  or  very  inferior  men 
fail  in  the  officers'  training  schools,  although  a  considerable  pro- 
portion succeed  in  passing  the  examinations  for  non-commis- 


ABC+CC-PD- 


Percent 
Success 


Percent 
Failure 


Figure  6.    The  relation  of  intelligence  to  success  and  failure  in  non- 
commissioned officers'  training  schools. 


N.C.O. 

1458 
Men 


sioned  officers.  These  figures  make  it  clear  that  if  men  were 
admitted  to  such  schools  partly  on  the  basis  of  intelligence  a 
considerable  saving  could  be  effected.  The  rule  might  reason- 
ably be  made  that  no  men  grading  below  C—  in  intelligence 
should  be  admitted  to  an  officers'  training  school,  and  similarly 
that  no  men  grading  lower  than  D  in  intelligence  should  be 
admitted  to  a  non-commissioned  officers'  school. 

Turning  for  a  moment  to  an  entirely  different  sort  of  evi- 
dence, we  have  in  Fig.  7  the  results  of  officers'  ratings  com- 
pared with  intelligence  ratings.  In  this  instance  nearly  four 
hundred  men  of  twelve  different  companies  were  rated  by  their 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED        369 

officers  on  their  general  value  to  the  service  as  very  poor,  poor, 
fair,  good,  or  best.  These  same  men  were  independently  rated 
by  psychological  examiners.  The  average  degree  of  intelli- 
gence in  each  of  the  five  groups  is  roughly  represented  by  the 
length  of  the  heavy  line  and  by  the  numerical  rating  printed 


Median  Score 


Good 


Best 


Figure  7.  The  median  intelligence  scores  (by  points)  of  groups  of 
soldiers  who  were  rated  by  their  officers  as  "  very  poor  "  to  "  best " 
in  military  value. 

beneath  each  line.  Thus,  for  example,  whereas  the  intelligence 
of  men  rated  as  very  poor  is  indicated  by  the  number  28,  that 
of  men  designated  as  best  is  indicated  by  99.  The  contrast  is 
unquestionably  significant  and  it  is  clear  that  the  army  would 
have  profited  greatly  had  the  very  poor  group  been  excluded 
from  service  on  the  basis  of  intelligence  measurements. 

A  similar  picture  is  presented  in  Fig.  8,  which  indicates  the 
contrast  between  men  judged  of  low  military  value  by  their 
officers  and  the  complete  draft  quota  from  one  of  the  camps. 
The  most  common  grade  of  intelligence  in  the  unsatisfactory 
group  is  slightly  above  D;  that  is,  inferior,  whereas  for  the 
entire  draft  quota  the  most  common  grade  is  between  C  and  C-(-- 


THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 


In  the  preliminary  trial  or  stage  of  psychological  examining 
it  was  discovered  only  by  accident  that  companies  and  regiments 
which  were  built  up  in  the  ordinary  military  fashion  without 


o/o 


40 


20 


(0 


RATING  D-D    c-  c    c+  B  A 

Figure  8.    The  intelligence  of  men  of  low  military  value  as  compared 
with  that  of  the  complete  draft  quota  for  a  certain  camp. 

special  reference  to  the  intelligence  of  the  men  differed  ex- 
tremely, both  as  to  average  intellectual  ability  and  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  different  grades  of  ability.  This  fact  finds  ex- 
pression in  Fig.  9,  which  represents  the  proportions  of  high 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED         371 

grade  and  low  grade  men  in  the  several  companies  of  an 
infantry  regiment.  The  intermediate  grades  of  intelligence 
are  omitted  as  irrelevant  and  the  figure  represents  the  per- 
centage of  A  and  B  men  in  each  company,  and,  by  contrast, 
the  percentage  of  men  who  are  illiterate  or  of  foreign  birth. 
The  first  of  these  groups  is,  in  the  long  run,  highly  valuable 
because  of  ease  of  training,  general  adaptability,  and  service- 


23 

Per  Cent 

16        16  16 

Rated 

Ur 

A  or  B 

5        6 

Lu 

i 

hi 

4 

Company 


I     K    L 


M  M.G.Sup.Hdq. 


( 

1 

11 

15 

18 

18 

24  2*4 

29 

28 

51                       33 

8^39 

42 

Illiterate 


Foreign 


46 

Figure  9.    Inequalities  of  intelligence  among  the  companies  of  an  in- 
fantry regiment. 

ability  for  responsible  tasks.  The  second  is  generally  undesir- 
able from  the  officers'  point  of  view  because  it  requires  more 
time  and  patience  for  training,  supplies  relatively  few  men  for 
the  duties  of  officers  or  for  other  responsible  tasks  and,  in  a 
word,  is  often  extremely  difficult  to  train  satisfactorily  because 
of  a  certain  proportion  of  very  slow,  dull,  or  unwilling  men. 
The  contrast  between  C  company  and  E  company  in  this 


372  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

particular  regiment  is  startling.  The  one  has  three  per  cent, 
of  highly  intelligent  men ;  the  other,  twenty-nine.  The  one, 
thirty-eight  per  cent,  of  illiterate  or  foreign-born  soldiers ;  and 
the  other,  only  nine  per  cent.  Yet  the  captains  of  these  two 
companies  are  expected  and  required  by  their  commanding 
officer  to  produce  in  the  shortest  possible  time  practically 
equivalent  fighting  machines.  The  captain  of  C  company  has 
by  comparison  with  the  captain  of  E  company  an  extraordi- 
narily difficult  task. 

It  required  no  arguments  to  convince  army  officers  of  the 
undesirability  of  this  state  of  affairs.  Indeed  they  had  no 
sooner  been  shown  such  pictures  for  companies,  batteries,  and 
regiments  as  that  of  Fig.  9  than  they  demanded  reorganization 
in  order  that  the  various  units  should  have  approximately  equal 
mental  strength  and  similar  distribution  of  intelligence.  Be- 
yond this  it  was  but  a  step  to  suggest,  then  to  request,  and 
finally  to  effect  the  assignment  of  men  to  organizations  so  that 
intelligence  should  be  properly  distributed,  or  if  not  properly 
distributed,  at  least  much  more  satisfactorily  distributed  than 
formerly. 

In  some  divisions  of  the  United  States  Army  the  use  of  mental 
ratings  was  based  upon  specifications  for  different  types  of 
organization.  It  was  decided,  for  example,  that  the  infantry 
regiment  could  use  a  certain  percentage  of  low  grade  men  and 
that  it  should  have  for  efficient  training  and  action  a  certain 
minimum  percentage  of  men  of  high  intelligence.  These 
specifications  naturally  differed  somewhat  for  different  types  of 
organization.  Their  principal  values  were  the  facilitation  of 
training  and  the  avoidance  of  such  inequalities  of  distribution 
as  have  been  described. 

The  evidences  of  the  practical  relations  of  intelligence  to 
military  value  which  have  been  presented  up  to  this  point  are 
primarily  objective,  but  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  phenomenal 
success  of  this  sort  of  psychological  service  in  the  army  was 
due  in  part  to  the  opinions  of  officers.  Usually  these  opinions 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED         373 

were  based  upon  more  or  less  satisfactory  evidences  of  practical 
usefulness. 

Following  the  official  trial  of  psychological  methods  in  four 
National  Army  cantonments  during  the  fall  of  1917,  the 
opinions  of  officers  concerning  the  value  of  the  results  was 
sought  and  it  was  found  that  nearly  75  per  cent,  were  favorable 
to  the  continuance  of  the  service.  Somewhat  more  than  a  year 
later  similar  inquiries  in  many  divisional  training  camps  indi- 
cated that  this  percentage  had  increased  to  90.  Of  thirty 
statements  received  from  commanding  officers  of  camps  or 
divisions  twenty-seven  were  definitely  favorable  and  many  of 
them  exhibited  keen  interest  in  the  work  and  a  desire  to  further 
its  development. 

The  following  statements,  chosen  almost  at  random,  are 
representative : 

The  psychological  work  done  and  being  done  by  Captain 

in  this  camp  has  been  consistently  good  and  has  proven  of  much 
practical  value. 

At  first,  due  to  the  innate  conservatism  of  line  and  even  medical 
officers,  his  task  was  a  rather  uphill  one ;  but  now,  largely  due  to 
his  own  energy  and  tact,  and  to  the  thoroughness  and  honesty  of 
his  work,  practically  all  officers  here  have  been  convinced  of  its 
practical  value  and  unique  assistance  in  rating,  sorting,  and  dis- 
posing of  the  divers  kinds  of  men  as  well  as  officers  who  pass 
through  such  a  camp. 

In  addition  to  his  ordinary  duties  of  testing  and  rating  the 
personnel  of  organizations,  he  has  been  employed  in  making 
numerous  special  examinations,  where  the  handling  and  disposi- 
tion of  men  whose  cases  involved  obscurities  of  mental  and  physical 
peculiarity  or  weakness  were  in  question.  The  lucid  solving  of 
such  human  problems  by  the  methods  of  his  peculiar  art  and  his 
personal  acuteness  and  persistence  have  often  relieved  such  per- 
plexities. 

I  consider  such  an  expert  and  his  specialty  among  the  most  use- 
ful aids  lately  given  the  army  toward  the  scientific  and  non-waste- 
ful utilization  of  man  power. 


374  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

And  from  another  officer: 

I  am  of  the  opinion  that  the  psychological  service  is  an  excellent 
thing. 

During  the  present  war  officers  are  thrown  in  contact  with  large 
numbers  of  other  officers  and  enlisted  men,  to  whom  they  are  com- 
plete strangers.  It  is  impossible  to  quickly  form  a  knowledge  of 
any  one's  ability.  Time,  personal  association  or  accident  may  show 
that  a  certain  officer  or  enlisted  man  is  worthy  of  advancement. 
•We  are  constantly  looking  for  intelligent  men.  The  psychological 
test  gives  us  something  to  start  on,  and  I  have  used  these  psycho- 
logical ratings  on  many  occasions  in  the  absence  of  a  knowledge 
of  the  individual  concerned.  While  I  am  firmly  of  the  opinion 
that  the  psychological  rating  is  excellent  among  new  men,  it  does 
not  take  the  place  of  the  final  judgment  formed  of  an  individual 
by  personal  contact  and  observation  under  difficult  conditions.  I 
would,  therefore,  consider  it  of  the  greatest  importance  for  a.<  just 
test  of  new  men  to  subject  them  first  to  the  psychological  test. 
The  final  decision  with  reference  to  men  who  have  passed  such 
test  will  depend  upon  the  result  of  the  judgment  formed  of  the 
individual  after  sufficient  time  had  elapsed  during  which  they 
were  under  observation.  From  my  experience  in  different  camps, 
I  am  of  the  opinion  that  enlisted  men  who  rate  below  A  and  B 
class  should  not  be  considered  as  candidates  for  the  officers'  train- 
ing schools. 

The  extent  of  the  service  of  psychological  examining  and  its 
relation  to  military  efficiency  and  expenditures  have  not  thus 
far  been  appreciated,  chiefly  because  the  public  has  been  ignor- 
ant of  the  facts.  The  following  summary  statements  are  taken 
from  the  official  report  of  the  service : 

The  work  of  mental  examining  was  organized  finally  in  35  army 
training  camps.  A  grand  total  of  1,726,966  men  had  been  given 
psychological  examination  prior  to  January  31,  1919.  Of  this 
number  about  42,000  were  commissioned  officers.  More  than 
83,500  of  the  enlisted  men  included  in  the  total  had  been  given 
individual  examination  in  addition  to  the  group  examination  for 
literates,  for  illiterates,  or  both. 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED        375 

Between  April  28,  1918,  and  January  31,  1919,  7800  (0.5  per 
cent.)  men  of  the  1,556,011  examined  were  reported  for  discharge 
by  psychological  examiners  because  of  mental  inferiority.  The 
recommendations  for  assignment  to  labor  battalions  because  of 
low  grade  intelligence  number  10,014  (0.6+  Per  cent.).  For  a&- 
signment  to  development  battalions  in  order  that  they  might  be 
more  carefully  observed  and  given  preliminary  training  to  discover, 
if  possible,  ways  of  using  them  in  the  army,  9487  (0.6  -f-  per  cent.) 
men  were  recommended. 

During  this  same  interval  there  were  reported  4780  men  with 
mental  age  below  7  years;  7875,  between  7  and  8  years;  14,814, 
between  8  and  9  years;  18,878,  between  9  and  10  years.  This 
gives  a  total  of  46,347  men  under  10  years'  mental  age.  It  is 
extremely  improbable  that  many  of  these  individuals  were  worth 
what  it  cost  the  government  to  maintain,  equip,  and  train  them 
for  military  service. 

Psychological  examiners  were  not  responsible  for  discharges. 
They  merely  reported  on  the  intelligence  of  each  soldier.  It 
remained  for  the  medical  officer  and  the  commanding  officer 
of  camp  or  division  to  decide  what  should  be  done.  Certainly 
a  considerable  proportion,  although  by  no  means  all,  of  the  men 
who  were  too  inferior  in  intelligence  to  be  worth  training  for 
military  purposes  were  discharged.  It  is  probable  that  no  less 
than  50,000  men  were  designated  by  psychological  examiners 
for  discharge,  for  service  in  labor  organizations,  or  for  assign- 
ment to  development  battalions.  Most  of  these  men  were  so 
inferior  in  intelligence  that  they  could  be  trained  only  with 
extreme  pains  and  very  slowly.  Well  above  10,000  of  them, 
possibly  as  many  as  15,000,  possessed  less  intellectual  ability 
than  the  average  eight-year-old  child. 

Assuming  that  the  psychologists  discovered  10,000  men  not 
otherwise  discovered,  who,  because  of  low  grade  intelligence, 
were  not  suitable  for  regular  military  service,  and  assuming 
further  that  the  cost  to  the  United  States  Government  of  equip- 
ping, training,  and  sending  a  soldier  over-seas  was  approxi- 
mately $2500,  it  is  a  simple  matter  of  arithmetic  to  determine 


376  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

that  $25,000,000  would  be  expended  on  this  next  to  useless 
human  material  if  it  were  not  either  rejected  or  promptly  dis- 
charged on  the  discovery  of  the  mental  condition. 

By  contrast  with  this  possible  saving  it  is  interesting  to  know 
that  it  cost  the  government  less  than  5oc.  per  man  to  conduct 
psychological  examinations.  Thus  it  would  appear  that  on  the 
basis  of  rejection  or  discharge  alone,  leaving  out  of  account 
possible  increases  of  rapidity  of  training  and  in  military 
efficiency  by  reason  of  better  placement  of  men  and  more  satis- 
factory selection  of  commissioned  officers  and  non-commis- 
sioned officers,  the  service  of  psychological  examining  might 
have  saved  the  United  States  Government,  had  it  been  used  to 
the  utmost  throughout  the  war,  many  millions  of  dollars. 

Of  the  many  unexpected  and  startling  results  of  psychological 
examining  in  the  army  only  a  few  can  be  mentioned.  First  in 
importance  is  the  frequency  of  illiteracy  in  this  country.  It 
was  originally  assumed  by  psychological  examiners  that  at  least 
nine  in  ten  of  the  young  men  who  had  been  drafted  could  read 
and  write  English  well  enough  to  take  the  written  group  exami- 
nation. But,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  more  than  twice  this  number, 
that  is  above  20  per  cent.,  were  so  inexpert  in  reading  and 
writing  that  they  could  not  do  themselves  justice  in  an  examina- 
tion which  required  either.  It  is  undoubtedly  safe  to  say  that 
one-quarter  of  the  drafted  men  are,  or  rather  were  at  the  time 
they  were  mustered  into  the  service,  incapable  of  reading  and 
writing  English  to  a  really  useful  extent.  They  could  merely 
speak  it.  There  is  a  lesson  in  this  exhibition  of  illiteracy  which 
the  government  and  the  people  of  the  United  States  will  not 
be  slow  to  appreciate  and  to  profit  by. 

A  second  fact  which  was  brought  into  clear  relief  by  the 
wholesale  examining  of  colored  and  white  men  in  the  draft 
is  the  intellectual  inferiority  of  the  negro.  Quite  apart  from 
educational  status,  which  is  utterly  unsatisfactory,  the  negro 
soldier  is  of  relatively  low  grade  intelligence.  The  accompany- 
ing table  presents  the  contrast  of  white  with  black  in  respect 
to  the  distribution  of  intelligence.  This  also  is  in  the  nature  of 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED         377 

a  lesson,  for  it  suggests  that  education  alone  will  not  place 
the  negro  race  on  a  par  with  its  Caucasian  competitors. 

Number 

of  Intelligence  Grades 

Cases       A  B  C+  C  C—         D         D— 

White 

officers  15,385    55.9  %    28.5  %     12.5  %      3.3  %      0.4%      o    %      o    % 
White 

draft.  .94,002     4.1%      8.0%     15.2%    25.0%    23.8%     17.0%      7.1% 
Negro 
draft ..  18,691     0.1%      0.6%      2.0%      5.7%     12.9%    29.7%    49.0% 

Officers  of  different  arms  of  the  military  service  are  surpris- 
ingly unlike  in  nature  and  degree  of  intelligence.  Compari- 
son of  the  data  for  engineers  with  those  for  medical  officers 
indicates  at  once  differences  of  two  sorts:  the  engineers  make 
higher  scores  in  each  test  but  almost  without  exception  the 
higher  their  score  in  a  particular  test  the  lower  the  score  for 
the  medical  officers.  The  chaplains  differ  markedly  from  both 
the  engineers  and  the  medical  men,  especially  in  the  departure 
of  their  scores  from  the  standard  (50  percentile).  These  great 
differences  for  important  professional  groups  of  officers  may 
be  due  either  to  heredity  or  to  education  and  experience.  In 
the  former  case  they  will  probably  prove  to  have  important 
vocational  significance ;  in  the  latter,  similarly  important  educa- 
tional significance. 

Of  the  many  other  interesting  discoveries  concerning  the 
relations  of  intelligence  to  race,  to  length  of  residence  in  the 
United  States,  to  education,  to  fitness  for  military  service,  to 
age,  and  to  military  rank,  nothing  can  be  said  here  because  this 
is  a  chapter  and  not  a  book.  But,  in  view  of  its  quite  excep- 
tional practical  importance,  the  relation  of  intelligence  to  army 
occupations  may  be  described  very  briefly. 

In  the  course  of  psychological  examining  it  became  apparent 
that  the  intelligence  of  men  of  different  occupations  varied  not 
only  with  the  individual  but  also  in  quite  as  definite  a  way  with 
his  occupation.  The  intelligence  ratings  of  groups  representing 


378  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

some  sixty  occupations  which  occurred  in  the  army  were,  there- 
fore, brought  together.     The  principal  facts  are  indicated  in 


[  : 


I D-    I      D      I      C-    I      C       I      C+  I       B      I 


laborer  .   . 


/-^     I   Con.  miner  .    .   » 
0     ]   Teamster  .   ,   .   . 


I   Barber | 

Horseshoer  .  .  .  __ — «. 


C 


Bricklayer  .  .  ., (_ 

Cook | 

Baker  ......          ' 

Painter  _ 

Gen.  blacksmith  .  .  _— ___ 
Gen.  carpenter  .  .  .  ____»__ 

Butcher  . — — _ 

Gen.  machinist   ...    - 
Hand  riveter  ....   - 


Tel.  &  tel.  lineman  .     j. 

Gen.pipefitter  ....  I 

Plumber  I 

Tool  and  gauge  maker  .   .  I 

Gunsmith  ] 

Gen>.  mechanlo  •  .  •  .  -- 


Gen.  auto  repairman  .  .*  | 
Auto  engine  mechanic  »  •  .  — — 
Auto  assembler  » — — . 


Ship  carpenter  ......       j 


Telephone  operator  | 


o 


Concrete  const,  foreman 

Stock-keeper 

Photographer 


Telegrapher  [ 


l.R.   clerk 
Piling  clerk 
Gen.   clerk  . 


Army  nurse | 

Bookkeeper  .   .   .   , I 


Dental  officer  .  .  . 
Mechanical  draftsman 
Accountant  ..... 


Civil  engineer  ...........  _L 

Medical  officer » _ 


-{"Engineer  officer 


I      D-   |      D      I      C-   |      C      I      C+  I      B       I      A      I 

Figure  10.    Occupational   intelligence   standards,   showing  the  relation 
of  soldiers'  intelligence  to  their  occupations. 

Fig.  10,  which  represents  the  distribution  of  intelligence  of  the 
middle  fifty  per  cent,  in  each  occupation.     The  vertical  cross- 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED        379 

bar  indicates  for  a  given  occupation  the  median  intelligence. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  discover  important  relations  of  these  facts 
to  vocational  guidance. 

Consideration  of  army  occupations  naturally  brings  us  to  the 
second  main  division  of  this  chapter,  which  is  the  classification 
of  personnel  in  the  army  with  respect  especially  to  occupation 
or  trade  and  its  military  usefulness. 

In  the  summer  of  1917  a  group  known  as  the  Committee  on 
Classification  of  Personnel  in  the  Army  was  organized  by  the 
War  Department  to  work  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
the  Adjutant  General  of  the  army.  For  the  work  of  this  com- 
mittee an  initial  appropriatoin  of  $25,000  was  made  and,  as  the 
success  of  its  work  led  to  the  constant  increase  of  its  responsi- 
bilities, additional  appropriations  were  approved  until  the  total 
amounted  to  more  than  three-quarters  of  a  million. 

The  big  task  of  this  committee  was'the  occupational  classifi- 
cation and  placement  of  enlisted  men.  Officers  charged  with 
personnel  duties  were  placed  in  all  army  divisions,  depots,  train- 
ing camps,  and  various  other  stations.  A  special  card  system 
was  devised  to  render  available  information  concerning  the 
educational,  occupational,  and  other  military  qualifications  of 
every  man.  With  a  minimum  of  clerical  work  this  system  was 
used  to  select  nearly  a  million  soldiers  for  transfer  to  such 
technical  units  as  the  engineers,  aviation,  the  ordnance,  and 
other  staff  corps,  and  for  the  transfer  of  even  more  men  within 
divisions  or  camps.  Approximately  450  officers  and  7000  men 
were  engaged  in  this  work.  The  number  of  soldiers  inter- 
viewed by  trained  members  of  the  personnel  staff  and  classified 
according  to  army  usefulness  approximated  three  and  one-half 
million. 

The  allotment  branch  or  central  clearing-house  of  the  com- 
mittee in  Washington  received  from  the  camps  information 
about  the  numbers  of  skilled  tradesmen  in  each  contingent  of 
the  draft  and  assisted  in  distributing  these  men  among  the 
various  camps  in  accordance  with  their  supply  of  skilled 
workers.  Up  to  November  n,  1919,  requests  for  about  600,000 


380  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

men  with  definite  occupational  qualifications  had  been  filled. 
Thus  the  committee  materially  aided  in  securing  the  most 
profitable  distribution  or  placement  of  the  members  of  essential 
occupations. 

As  a  further  aid  in  assignment  the  committee  prepared 
definitions  of  the  several  hundred  different  trades  needed  in 
the  army  and  brought  them  together  in  a  book  known  as  "  Army 
Trades  Specifications,"  which  became  indispensable  for  staff 
corps  and  personnel  officers  in  securing  skilled  men. 

Tables  were  prepared  which  show  in  detail  the  needs  for 
skilled  workers  in  each  kind  of  battalion,  company,  regiment, 
or  other  military  unit.  These  tables  were  carefully  studied, 
criticized,  and  after  repeated  modification,  approved  by  army 
units  in  France,  and  they  later  served  as  a  basis  for  the  rapid 
organization  of  divisions.  From  these  occupational  tables  there 
finally  developed  a  system  of  personnel  specifications  for  the 
enlisted  men  of  four  hundred  different  types  of  organization. 

Qualification  cards  for  officers  were  devised  and  put  into 
general  use.  These,  like  the  similar  cards  for  enlisted  men, 
supplied  a  complete  record  of  educational,  occupational,  and 
military  experience,  and,  in  addition,  a  rating  by  superior 
officers.  These  cards  were  filed  in  Washington  and  duplicates 
were  supplied  to  division  commanders  for  their  assistance  in 
assigning  their  officers. 

A  uniform  system  of  rating  commissioned  officers  was  de- 
veloped. This  was  first  installed  in  the  officers'  training  camps 
as  an  aid  in  selecting  candidates  for  commissions.  Later  it 
was  used  also  in  selecting  from  among  candidates  for  admission 
to  the  schools.  In  the  same  direction  definitions  of  the  duties 
and  qualifications  of  no  less  than  500  different  kinds  of  officers 
in  the  various  arms  of  the  service  were  prepared  under  the 
direction  of  the  committee.  These  specifications  for  commis- 
sioned officers  are  used  in  locating  officer  material,  in  selecting 
men  for  training  as  officers,  and  in  assigning  officers  to  duty. 
Important  studies  on  the  basis  of  the  data  secured  by  the  com- 
mittee have  been  made  concerning  the  significance  of  age,  edu- 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED         381 

cation,  civil  earnings,  intelligence,  and  certain  other  qualifica- 
tions of  officers  in  the  different  corps  and  arms  of  the  service. 

The  Committee  on  Classification  of  Personnel  cooperated 
with  several  other  departments  or  divisions  within  the  military 
establishment,  thus  helping  to  coordinate  its  important  activities 
with  closely  related  work  and  at  the  same  time  steadily  increas- 
ing the  efficiency  of  methods  of  handling  personnel. 

But  most  interesting  and  perhaps  most  important  of  all  of 
the  achievements  of  this  successful  committee  was  the  trades' 
test.  The  prospective  importance  of  this  achievement  for 
American  industry  is  so  considerable  that  the  work  will  be 
described  at  much  greater  length  than  the  other  and  more 
strictly  military  tasks  of  the  group.  The  following  account 
of  the  development  of  trade  testing  within  the  army  is  quoted 
from  "  Measuring  a  Workman's  Skill ;  the  Use  of  Trade  Tests 
in  the  Army  and  Industrial  Establishments,"  which  was  pre- 
pared by  Lt.  Col.  W.  V.  Bingham  for  the  National  Society  for 
Vocational  Education : 

"  The  development  of  trade  testing  has  been  one  of  the  useful 
by-products  of  the  war.  It  had  long  been  recognized  that  waste 
of  human  life  and  human  skill  through  misplacement  in  the 
army  or  in  industry  is  a  futile,  costly  extravagance ;  yet  it  re- 
quires the  stress  of  war  to  make  people  act  on  this  conviction 
that  the  conservation  of  carpenters,  welders,  and  turret  lathe 
operators  is  really  more  important  than  the  conservation  of 
water  power  and  timber  land,  and  that  rich  returns  would 
accrue  to  an  investment  of  money  and  talent  directed  toward  an 
improvement  of  the  technique  of  human  classification  and  place- 
ment. Of  the  improvement  in  personnel  technique,  which  has 
emerged  from  army  experience,  perhaps  no  phase  has  greater 
promise  of  worth  for  industry  than  the  development  of 
standardized  trade  tests. 

*'  The  standardized  trade  tests  were  first  introduced  into  army 
practice  last  June  [1918]  when  there  was  pressing  need,  espe- 
cially for  the  truck  driver's  and  auto  mechanic's  tests,  to  deter- 
mine whether  the  ammunition  and  supply  trains  of  the  divisions 


382  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

that  were  about  to  be  sent  to  France  really  had  the  skilled 
personnel  necessary  to  get  the  supplies  up  to  the  front  under 
battle  conditions.  By  the  time  that  mobilization  ceased  in 
November,  standardized  tests  in  about  eighty  of  the  more  im- 
portant trades  were  in  use. 

'*  The  cost  of  production  and  standardization  of  the  tests  was 
on  the  average  roughly  a  thousand  dollars  a  trade.  But  as  it 
worked  out,  this  was  an  extremely  economical  investment  for 
the  War  Department.  A  conservative  estimate  was  made  last 
October  of  the  saving  in  the  cost  of  pay  and  subsistence  of 
recruits,  which  was  at  that  time  being  effected  as  a  direct  result 
of  the  use  of  these  trade  tests.  Data  gleaned  from  the  twenty 
cantonments  in  which  the  trade  test  stations  were  operating, 
indicated  that  in  each  station  the  tests  were  saving  the  Depot 
Brigade  personnel  officers  from  making  about  ten  erroneous 
assignments  a  day.  Since  it  takes  at  least  two  weeks  on  the 
average  to  discover  that  a  soldier,  who  has  been  sent  to  a 
technical  unit  is  not  fully  competent  and  to  effect  the  necessary 
replacement,  each  avoidance  of  such  a  mistake  meant  a  saving 
of  $42.  The  trade  tests  were  then  saving  the  army  about 
$210,000  a  month  on  this  item  alone.  But  of  course  the  real 
economies  were  not  of  money  but  of  time.  Correct  initial 
placement  meant  speedier  organization  and  more  rapid  progress 
of  training.  Trade  tests  had  their  share  in  the  rapid  shaping 
of  army  units  which  were  ready  ahead  of  schedule  to  meet  the 
demands  of  Foch  and  Pershing  on  the  western  front. 

'*'  In  devising  a  standardized  trade  test  it  is  first  necessary  to 
study  the  trade  to  find  out  through  analysis  of  typical  jobs,  what 
are  the  elements  of  skill  and  information  and  judgment  which 
combine  to  constitute  real  proficiency.  The  Army  Trade  Test 
Division  began  by  assembling  information  from  such  sources 
as  the  archives  of  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Labor,  state  and  city 
civil  service  commissions,  and  the  like.  Suggestive  typical 
tasks  and  numerous  trade  questions  and  answers  were  accumu- 
lated through  conference  with  officials  of  trade  unions  that 
maintain  standards  of  proficiency  among  their  membership, 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED         383 

and  also  from  employment  managers  of  large  establishments. 
But  no  amount  of  this  accumulated  material  could  take  the 
place  of  analysis  made  by  actual  observation  of  skilled  and 
partly  skilled  tradesmen  at  their  work. 

'*  After  analysis  of  the  trade  comes  construction  of  a  tentative 
test.  This  sometimes  takes  the  form  of  a  performance  test,  a 
job  arranged  so  as  to  require  of  the  candidate  a  demonstration 
of  his  manual  proficiency  and  his  judgment  in  the  use  of  the 
main  tools  of  his  trade. 

"  Other  tests  are  entirely  oral,  consisting  of  questions  to  elicit 
definite  bits  of  trade  knowledge,  to  sample  the  range  of  the  can- 
didate's practice,  and  to  try  the  soundness  of  his  judgment  on 
typical  matters. 

"  A  third  type  of  test,  similar  in  principle  to  the  oral  test,  pre- 
sents to  the  candidate  pictures  of  tools,  machines,  materials  and 
products  of  his  trade,  and  requires  him  to  identify  them  and  to 
indicate  uses.  Thus  in  one  of  the  horseshoer's  tests  are  in- 
cluded pictures  of  a  fullered  horseshoe  and  a  stamped  horse- 
shoe ;  a  shoe  to  prevent  interfering,  and  a  toe  weight  shoe ;  a 
pad  and  a  hoof  plate,  a  mule  shoe,  a  winter  shoe,  and  a  racing 
plate.  Besides  identifying  these  or  telling  differences  in  their 
use,  the  candidate  is  shown  pictures  of,  and  asked  to  name  or 
tell  the  use  of,  a  pritchel,  clinch  tongs,  a  fitting  hammer,  a  driv- 
ing hammer,  and  a  buffer ;  a  straight  hardie  and  a  round  hardie ; 
a  cold  chisel  and  a  hot  chisel;  a  hoof  expander,  a  toe  calk, 
and  other  things  familiarity  with  which  is  found  to  differentiate 
the  more  experienced  from  the  less  experienced  horseshoer. 
Pictures  of  horses'  feet  in  various  conditions  enable  the  candi- 
date to  show  his  good  judgment  as  well  as  his  trade  knowledge, 
by  telling  how  each  should  be  treated.  The  examiner,  keeping 
an  exact  score  on  the  candidate's  responses  and  referring  to 
the  standard  ratings,  can  in  ten  minutes  assure  himself  with 
reasonable  accuracy  as  to  whether  the  soldier  knows  as  much 
about  the  horseshoeing  trade  as  most  experts,  journeymen, 
apprentices,  or  novices,  as  the  case  may  be. 


384  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

"  Similarly,  in  an  oral  test  for  horseshoers,  the  soldier  is 
asked  such  questions  as  these : 

" 4  How  does  a  deep-seated  corn  usually  show  on  a  sole  ? ' 
'  Red/  is  the  answer  which  experienced  horseshoers  univers- 
ally give  to  this  answer. 

'* l  What  is  the  fullering  in  a  shoe  ? '  '  Groove  *  and  *  crease  ' 
have  both  been  found  to  be  acceptable  answers. 

'* '  How  do  you  shoe  a  horse  that  has  a  bone  spavin  ? ' 
'  Lower  the  toe  and  raise  the  heels/ 

"  Questions  likely  to  provoke  narration  of  processes  or  de- 
scriptive answers  that  are  both  time-consuming  and  difficult  to 
evaluate,  are  omitted.  Only  those  questions  are  included  which 
seem  simple,  clear,  direct  and  unambiguous,  and  which  promise 
to  elicit  answers  that  can  be  accurately  scored  and  that  will  be 
genuinely  diagnostic  of  trade  proficiency. 

"  After  a  tentative  test  containing  sixty,  eighty,  or  even  a  hun- 
dred distinct  elements  has  been  assembled  it  must  be  tried  out. 
It  is  first  used  in  testing  from  five  to  twenty  men  whose  high 
proficiency  in  the  trade  is  known.  During  this  preliminary 
tryout  the  test  undergoes  progressive  revision  and  refinement. 
Ambiguities  and  localisms  of  terminology  are  eliminated.  Ele- 
ments that  require  too  much  time  or  that  prove  to  be  repetitive 
of  other  elements,  or  that  are  not  sufficiently  diagnostic,  are 
dropped. 

"  The  revised  test  is  now  subjected  to  a  second  and  much 
more  thorough  tryout.  With  adherence  to  rigorously  uniform 
procedure,  it  is  administered  in  various  establishments  and  in 
different  industrial  regions  of  the  country,  to  no  less  than  eighty 
men  whose  proficiency  is  known.  Of  these,  twenty  are  experts 
in  the  trade,  twenty  are  journeymen,  and  twenty  are  men  rated 
as  apprentices  of  at  least  fourteen  months  and  less  than  three 
years'  standing.  The  remaining  twenty  are  novices,  persons  of 
good  education  and  intelligence  but  with  no  experience  at  the 
trade  in  question.  The  testing  of  these  novices  is  necessary  in 
order  to  discover  and  eliminate  the  elements  of  the  test  which 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED         385 

an  educated  non-tradesman  could  pass,  on  the  basis  of  his 
general  knowledge  or  intelligence. 

"  All  of  these  test  records,  which  show  exactly  what  each  of 
the  eighty  or  a  hundred  men  did  with  every  element  of  the  test, 
are  turned  over  to  the.  statistician  who  computes  for  every  ele- 
ment its  diagnostic  value.  He  then  chooses  those  elements 
which  are  found  to  differentiate  most  sharply  between  novice 
and  apprentice,  apprentice  and  journeyman,  or  journeyman 
and  expert.  He  determines  the  best  numerical  weighting  to  be 
attached  to  each  of  these  selected  elements.  And  finally,  com- 
bining these  scores,  he  ascertains  the  critical  rating  which  is 
found  to  separate  the  largest  number  of  known  apprentices, 
from  the  novices,  the  journeymen  from  the  apprentices,  and 
so  on.  This  stage  of  the  process  we  have  called  *  calibrating ' 
the  test.  Like  the  calibration  of  a  thermometer,  the  critical 
points  of  the  test  score  are  located,  not  by  theory  or  by  the 
opinion  of  the  deviser  of  the  test,  but  by  actual  trial.  Only 
thus  are  we  confident  that  the  test  will  really  measure  trade 
proficiency  with  the  degree  of  reliability  required  by  the  army. 

"  Not  infrequently  the  tentative  formulation  of  the  test  has 
proved  inadequate,  and  after  all  the  labor  and  expense  of  an 
elaborate  tryout  it  had  to  be  thrown  into  the  waste-basket  and 
a  fresh  start  made.  Only  after  a  test  had  been  devised  which 
was  found  on  thorough  trial  to  measure  up  to  the  requirements, 
was  it  turned  over  for  use  with  the  soldiers. 

4<  While  these  trade  tests  were  being  developed,  two  astonish- 
ing discoveries  came  to  light.  The  first  of  these  is  the  rarity, 
the  practical  nonexistence,  of  the  exclusively  motor-minded  type 
of  tradesman,  the  man  who  can  do  the  job  with  his  hands  but 
cannot  tell  you  about  it  in  words.  In  beginning  the  trade  test 
development  we  had  expected  to  meet  numerous  difficulties  due 
to  the  prevalence  among  manual  laborers  of  this  variety  of 
mental  constitution.  We  expected  to  find  that  the  oral  type 
of  tests  would  prove  useful  with  the  more  verbally  minded 
men;  but  we  anticipated  meeting  many  tradesmen  of  high 


386  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

proficiency  and  skill  who  could  do  little  or  nothing  with  these 
oral  questions.  This  expectation  proved  to  be  wholly  at  vari- 
ance with  the  facts.  The  problem  here  suggested,  as  to 
whether  the  so-called  pure  type  of  motor-mindedness  is  really 
only  a  mythical  abstraction,  is  respectfully  referred  to  the 
laboratories  of  educational  psychology. 

"  The  other  discovery,  not  wholly  unrelated  to  the  first,  was 
the  fact  that  in  a  majority  of  the  trades  the  oral  tests  yielded 
more  accurate  differentiations  of  proficiency  than  did  the  per- 
formance tests.  In  other  words,  the  journeyman  and  the  ex- 
pert differ  from  the  apprentice  not  so  much  because  they  have 
greater  manual  skill  and  dexterity  as  because  they  excel  in  judg- 
ment, technical  information,  or  trade  knowledge. 

"  Of  course  this  is  not  the  case  in  some  occupations, 'such  as 
truck  driver  or  typist.  Here  oral  tests  are  futile.  The  candi- 
date must  be  given  a  chance  to  demonstrate  his  skill  through 
actual  performance.  But  in  most  of  the  trades  the  actual 
performance  testing  of  the  man  on  the  manual  job  can  be 
omitted  without  great  loss  to  our  knowledge  of  the  man's 
proficiency." 

Finally,  the  third  chief  division  of  this  chapter  should  present 
the  work  of  psychologists  on  special  military  problems.  Many 
such  were  formulated  by  officers  of  the  army,  by  scientific  men 
in  the  National  Research  Council,  and  by  psychologists  who 
were  in  the  midst  of  military  duties.  In  the  majority  of  in- 
stances the  attempts  to  deal  with  special  problems  were  con- 
spicuously successful,  in  that  they  yielded  immediately 
serviceable  results. 

There  are  no  better  examples  to  be  found  to  illustrate  prob- 
lems, methods,  and  achievements,  than  the  work  of  Lieutenant 
Commander  Raymond  Dodge,  who  has  already  published  else- 
where fascinating  accounts  of  the  professional  work  of  military 
psychologists. 

We  quote  from  an  article  on  "  Mental  Engineering,"  pre- 
^V" pared  by  this  officer  for  the  American  "  Review  of  Reviews  " 
(May,  1919)  : 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED         387 

Let  me  illustrate  this  kind  of  war  work  by  a  single  concrete 
instance  in  which  the  details  are  not  military  secrets.  The  first 
problem  that  was  referred  to  the  sub-committee  on  vision  was 
the  question  whether  we  had  any  way  of  selecting  those  naval 
recruits  who  could  be  trained  most  quickly  as  gun-pointers  for 
the  armed  merchant  ships. 

The  first  step  was  to  learn  exactly  what  a  gun-pointer  had  to 
do.  The  next  was  to  reduce  the  more  or  less  complicated  pro- 
cesses of  gun-pointing  to  their  simplest  neuro-muscular  terms. 
It  was  a  definite  problem  for  analysis ;  and,  because  of  the  perfect 
systematization  and  high  specialization  of  naval  tasks  it  was  rela- 
tively simple.  The  third  step  was  to  adapt  approved  scientific 
technics  to  the  study  of  this  particular  complex  of  neuro-muscular 
processes.  For  this  purpose  an  instrument  was  devised  that  would 
show  all  the  following  facts  on  a  single  record  line:  i,  the  time 
that  it  took  a  sailor  to  start  his  gun-pointing  reaction  after  the 
target  at  which  he  was  aiming  started  to  move;  2,  the  accuracy 
with  which  he  was  able  to  "  keep  on  "  the  moving  target ;  3,  the 
time  that  it  took  him  to  respond  to  a  change  in  the  direction  of 
motion  of  the  target ;  4,  the  ability  to  press  the  firing  key  when  he 
was  on;  5,  the  effect  of  firing  on  his  pointing.  (See  frontispiece.) 

All  these  data  were  so  simplified  that  they  could  be  accurately 
estimated  from  simple  measurements  of  a  single  line  without 
elaborate  computations.  A  succession  of  records  indicated  the 
probable  quickness  with  which  the  sailor  would  learn  the  new  co- 
ordinations. The  final  step  was  to  test  the  probable  military  value 
of  our  instrument  and  its  records  by  performances  of  expert  and 
inexpert  gun-pointers. 

The  first  trials  proved  the  usefulness  of  the  device.  It  clearly 
differentiated  between  the  qualified  gun-pointers,  the  partially 
trained,  and  the  untrained.  It  picked  a  number  of  promising 
novices  and  indicated  the  faults  of  some  who  were  slow  to  improve. 
Predictions  based  on  the  records  were  uniformly  corroborated  by 
subsequent  experience.  Somewhat  later  it  was  possible  to  con- 
struct a  robust  training  instrument  along  similar  lines  that  was 
rather  enthusiastically  reported  on  by  various  naval  officers,  and 
was  widely  reproduced  by  the  navy  for  use  in  the  Naval  Training 
Stations. 

At  a  time  when  every  available  gun  was  needed   for  service 


388  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

afloat,  the  utility  of  our  relatively  simple  and  inexpensive  training 
instrument  that  closely  reproduced  the  coordinations  of  actual 
service  needs  no  emphasis. 

In  the  navy,  precisely  as  in  the  army,  the  solution  of  one 
problem  almost  inevitably  led  to  the  formulation  of  numerous 
related  problems.  The  task  thus  became  endless  and  at  the 
same  time  intensely  exacting  as  well  as  stimulating.  In  a 
summary  official  report  to  the  National  Research  Council 
Lieutenant  Commander  Dodge  writes  as  follows  concerning 
the  relation  of  his  study  of  problems  of  gun-pointing  to  other 
tasks : 

In  view  of  these  reiterated  suggestions,  and  in  view  of  the  wide 
scope  of  the  permission  granted  me  by  the  Honorable  Secretary 
of  the  Navy  to  visit  the  fleet  for  analysis  of  the  naval  tasks,  I 
undertook  to  do  for  the  plotting  room  what  I  have  done  for  gun- 
pointing.  After  observing  the  various  tasks  of  the  plotting  room, 
I  tried  to  reduce  them  to  their  simplest  psychological  terms,  then  to 
devise  corresponding  test  methods,  and  finally  to  combine  them 
in  a  single  form  or  blank  that  would  disclose  at  a  glance,  without 
elaborate  computation,  the  relative  fitness  of  the  several  recruits 
for  plotting  room  service. 

The  tests  finally  recommended  were :  the  ability  to  repeat 
clearly  by  telephone,  a  series  of  ordinary  commands  that  were  re- 
ceived by  telephone,  the  ability  to  remember  and  repeat  numerals, 
to  read  a  circular  scale,  to  read  a  plotting  scale  and  to  lay  off 
distances  to  scale,  together  with  neatness  and  accuracy  in  drawing 
and  sub-dividing  simple  geometrical  figures.  All  these  data,  except 
the  telephone  test,  were  arranged  on  a  single  blank  which  could 
be  estimated  at  a  glance  as  good,  medium,  and  poor. 

Again  in  an  entirely  different  connection  the  psychologist's 
skill  was  found  serviceable  in  selecting  men  to  be  trained  as 
listeners  for  anti-submarine  work. 

One  of  the  minor  but  necessary  tasks  of  the  Training  Section  of 
the  Bureau  of  Navigation  was  to  find  properly  equipped  men  for 
the  new  Listeners'  School  without  robbing  other  training  schools 
of  their  regular  quotas.  It  was  a  relatively  simple  problem  in  the 
economy  of  human  material  and  personnel,  but  one  for  which 


WHAT  PSYCHOLOGY  CONTRIBUTED         389 

no  data  were  available.  At  the  request  of  Captain  Bennett 
U.  S.  N.,  Chief  of  the  Training  Section,  I  analyzed  the  require- 
ments of  the  Listeners'  School. 

On  the  basis  of  that  analysis,  I  elaborated  a  series  of  tests  for 
candidates  for  the  Listeners'  School  and  was  sent  to  various  train- 
ing stations  to  pick  students  from  the  enlisted  personnel.  After 
correcting  the  tests  from  the  school  experience  with  the  first  few 
quotas,  I  was  able  to  make  a  detailed  recommendation  for  the 
examination  of  candidates.  With  the  cordial  assistance  of  naval 
medical  officers  in  the  several  districts,  these  testa  afforded  the 
Listeners'  School  a  selected  student  personnel  fr,om  which  80  per 
cent,  to  95  per  cent,  of  each  class  passed  the  course,  all  without 
seriously  affecting  the  supply  of  suitable  men  for  other  naval 
schools. 

Space  fails  us  to  describe  similarly  the  psychological  problems 
relating  to  the  intelligence  service  in  the  army,  the  aviation 
service,  the  chemical  warfare  service,  for  all  of  which  important 
tasks  were  undertaken. 


RELATIONS  OF  THE  WAR  TO  PROGRESS  IN 
SCIENCE 


XXII 

THE  POSSIBILITIES  OF  COOPERATION  IN 
RESEARCH 

GEORGE  ELLERY  HALE 

NO  one  can  survey  the  part  played  by  science  in  the  war 
without  reflecting  on  the  ultimate  influence  of  the  war 
on  science.     Able  investigators  have  been  killed  or  incapaci- 
tated, and  with  them  a  host  of  men  who  might  have  taken  high 
places  in  research.     Sources  of  revenue  have  been  cut  off,  and 
the  heavy  financial  burdens  permanently  imposed  upon  indi- 
viduals, institutions,  and  governments  must  tend  to  reduce  the 
funds  available  for  the  advancement  of  science.     On  the  other  j 
hand,  the  usefulness  of  science  is  appreciated  as  it  never  has  r 
been  before,  and  some  newly  enlightened  governments  have  K*, 
already  recognized  that  large  appropriations  for  research  willj 
bring  manifold  benefits  to  the  state.     The  leaders  of  industry , 
have  also  been  quick  to  appreciate  the  increased  returns  that 
research  renders  possible,  and  industrial  laboratories  are  multi- 
plying at  an  unprecedented   rate.     The   dearth   of   available 
investigators,  and  the  higher  salary  scale  of  the  industrial  world, 
have   seriously  affected  educational   institutions,   members   of 
whose  scientific  staffs,  inadequately  paid  and  tempted  by  offers 
of  powerful  instrumental  equipment,  have  been  drawn  into  the 
industries.     On   the  other  hand,   industrial   leaders   have   re-  , 
peatedly  emphasized  the  fundamental  importance  of  scientific 
researches  made  solely  for  the  advancement  of  knowledge,  and 
the  necessity  of  basing  all  great  industrial  advances  on  the  re- 
sults of  such  investigations.     Thus  they  may  be  expected  to 
contribute  even  more  liberally  than  before  to  the  development 

393 


394  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

of  laboratories  organized  for  work  of  this  nature.  Educational 
institutions  are  also  likely  to  recognize  that  science  should  play 
a  larger  part  in  their  curriculum,  and  that  men  skilled  in  re- 
search should  be  developed  in  greatly  increased  numbers.  The 
enlarged  appreciation  of  science  by  the  public,  the  demand  for 
investigators  in  the  industries,  and  the  attitude  of  industrial 
^A  leaders  of  wide  vision  toward  fundamental  science,  should 
facilitate  attempts  to  secure  the  added  endowments  and  equip- 
ment required. 

On  the  whole,  the  outlook  in  America  seems  most  encourag- 
ing. But  the  great  advance  in  science  that  thus  appears  to  be 
within  reach  cannot  be  attained  without  organized  effort  and 
much  hard  work.  On  the  one  hand,  the  presenF  inferest  of 
•*  the  public  in  science  must  be  developed  and  utilized  to  the  full, 
and  on  the  other,  the  spirit. of  cooperation  that  played  so  large 
a  part  during  the  war  must  be  applied  to  the  lasting  advantage 
of  science  and  research.  Fortunately  enough,  this  spirit  has 
not  been  confined  within  national  boundaries.  The  harmony 
of  purpose  and  unity  of  effort  displayed  by  the  nations  of  the 
Entente  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  have  also  drawn  them 
more  closely  together  in  science  and  research,  with  conse- 
quences that  are  bound  to  prove  fruitful  in  coming  years. 

The  Honorable  Elihu  Root,  who  combines  the  wide  vision 
of  a  great  statesman  with  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  importance 
and  methods  of  scientific  research,  has  recently  expressed  him- 
self as  follows : 

Science  has  been  arranging,  classifying,  methodizing,  simplifying 
everything  except  itself.  It  has  made  possible  the  tremendous 
modern  development  of  the  power  of  organization  which  has  so 
multiplied  the  effective  power  of  human  effort  as  to  make  the 
differences  from  the  past  seem  to  be  of  kind  rather  than  of  degree. 
It  has  organized  itself  very  imperfectly.  Scientific  men  are  only 
recently  realizing  that  the  principles  which  apply  to  success  on  a 
large  scale  in  transportation  and  manufacture  and  general  staff 
work  apply  to  them;  that  the  difference  between  a  mob  and  an 


THE  POSSIBILITIES  OF  COOPERATION      395 

army  does  not  depend  upon  occupation  or  purpose  but  upon  human 
nature;  that  the  effective  power  of  a  great  number  of  scientific 
men  may  be  increased  by  organization  just  as  the  effective  power 
of  a  great  number  of  laborers  may  be  increased  by  military  dis- 
cipline. 

The  emphasis  laid  by  Mr.  Root  on  the  importance  of  organ- 
ization in  science  must  not  be  misinterpreted.  For  many  years 
he  has  been  President  of  the  Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Carnegie 
Institution  of  Washington,  and  an  active  member  of  its  Execu- 
tive Committee.  Thus  kept  in  close  touch  with  scientific  re- 
search, he  is  well  aware  of  the  vital  importance  of  individual 
initiative  and  the  necessity  of  encouraging  the  independent 
efforts  of  the  original  thinker.  Thus  he  goes  on  to  say : 

This  attitude  follows  naturally  from  the  demand  of  true  scientific 
work  for  individual  concentration  and  isolation.  The  sequence, 
however,  is  not  necessary  or  laudable.  Your  isolated  and  concen- 
trated scientist  must  know  what  has  gone  before,  or  he  will  waste 
his  life  in  doing  what  has  already  been  done,  or  in  repeating  past 
failures.  He  must  know  something  about  what  his  contemporaries 
are  trying  to  do,  or  he  will  waste  his  life  in  duplicating  effort. 
The  history  of  science  is  so  vast  and  contemporary  effort  is  so 
active  that  if  he  undertakes  to  acquire  this  knowledge  by  himself 
alone  his  life  is  largely  wasted  in  doing  that;  his  initiative  and 
creative  power  are  gone  before  he  is  ready  to  use  them.  Occa- 
sionally a  man  appears  who  has  the  instinct  to  reject  the  negligible. 
A  very  great  mind  goes  directly  to  the  decisive  fact,  the  determin- 
ing symptom,  and  can  afford  not  to  burden  itself  with  a  great 
mass  of  unimportant  facts;  but  there  are  few  such  minds  even 
among  those  capable  of  real  scientific  work.  All  other  minds  need 
to  be  guided  away  from  the  useless  and  towards  the  useful.  That 
can  be  done  only  by  the  application  of  scientific  method  to  science 
itself  through  the  purely  scientific  process  of  organizing  effort. 

It  is  plain  that  if  we  are  to  have  effective  organization  in 
science,  it  must  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  individual  worker, 
stimulating  him  to  larger  conceptions,  emphasizing  the  value 
of  original  effort,  and  encouraging  independence  of  action, 


396  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

while  at  the  same  time  securing  the  advantages  of  wide 
cooperation  and  division  of  labor,  reducing  unnecessary  dupli- 
cation x  of  work  and  providing  the  means  of  facilitating  re- 
search and  promoting  discovery  and  progress. 

A  casual  view  of  the  problem  of  effecting  such  organization 
of  science  might  lead  to  the  conclusion  that  the  aims  just 
enumerated  are  mutually  incompatible.  It  can  be  shown  by 
actual  examples,  however,  that  this  is  not  the  case,  and  that  an 
important  advance,  in  harmony  with  Mr.  Root's  conception, 
is  entirely  possible. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  no  scheme  of  organization, 
effected  by  lesser  men,  can  ever  duplicate  the  epoch-making 
discoveries  of  the  Faradays,  the  Darwins,  the  Pasteurs,  and 
the  Rayleighs,  who  have  worked  largely  unaided,  and  who  will 
continue  to  open  up  the  chief  pathways  of  science.  Even  for 
such  men,  however,  organization  can  accomplish  much,  not  by 
seeking -to  plan  their  researches  or  control  their  methods,  but 
by  securing  cooperation,  if  and  when  it  is  needed,  and  by  ren- 
dering unnecessary  some  of  the  routine  work  they  are  now 
forced  to  perform. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  some  examples  of  organized  research, 
beginning  with  a  familiar  case  drawn  from  the  field  of  as- 
tronomy, where  the  wide  expanse  of  the  heavens  and  the  natural 
limitations  of  single  observers,  and  even  of  the  largest  observa- 
tories, led  long  ago  to  cooperative  effort. 

In  the  words  of  the  late  Sir  David  Gill,  then  Astronomer 
Royal  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  the  great  comet  of  1882 
showed  "  an  astonishing  brilliancy  as  it  rose  behind  the  moun- 
tains on  the  east  of  Table  Bay,  and  seemed  in  no  way  diminished 
in  brightness  when  the  sun  rose  a  few  minutes  afterward.  It 
was  only  necessary  to  shade  the  eye  from  direct  sunlight  with 
a  hand  at  arm's  length,  to  see  the  comet,  with  its  brilliant  white 
nucleus  and  dense  white,  sharply  bordered  tail  of  quite  half  a 
degree  in  length."  This  extraordinary  phenomenon,  more 
brilliant  than  any  comet  since  1843,  marked  the  beginning  of 

1  Some  duplication  is  frequently  desirable. 


THE  POSSIBILITIES  OF  COOPERATION      397 

celestial  photography  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  No  special 
photographic  telescope  was  available,  but  Sir  David  enlisted 
the  aid  of  a  local  photographer,  whose  camera,  strapped  to  an 
equatorial  telescope,  immediately  yielded  pictures  of  exceptional 
value.  But  even  more  striking  than  the  image  of  the  comet 
itself  was  the  dense  background  of  stars  simultaneously  regis- 
tered upon  these  plates.  Stellar  photographs  had  been  taken 
before,  but  they  had  shown  only  a  few  of  the  brighter  stars, 
and  no  such  demonstration  of  the  boundless  possibilities  of 
astronomical  photography  had  ever  been  encountered.  Always 
alive  to  new  opportunities  and  keen  in  the  appreciation  of  new 
methods,  Sir  David  adopted  similar  means  for  the  mapping  of 
more  than  450,000  stars,  whose  positions  were  determined 
through  the  cooperation  of  Professor  Kapteyn  of  Groningen, 
who  measured  their  images  on  the  photographs. 

Stimulated  by  this  success,  the  Henry  Brothers  soon  adopted 
photographic  methods  for  star  charting  at  the  Paris  Observa- 
tory, and  in  1887  an  International  Congress,  called  at  Sir 
David's  suggestion,  met  in  Paris  to  arrange  for  a  general  survey 
of  the  entire  heavens  by  photography.  Fifty-six  delegates  of 
seventeen  different  nationalities  resolved  to  construct  a  photo- 
graphic chart  of  the  whole  sky,  comprising  stars  down  to  the 
fourteenth  magnitude,  estimated  to  be  twenty  millions  in  num- 
ber. A  standard  form  of  photographic  telescope  was  adopted 
for  use  at  eighteen  observatories  scattered  over  the  globe,  with 
results  which  have  appeared  in  many  volumes.  These  contain 
the  measured  positions  of  the  stars,  and  are  supplemented  by 
heliogravure  enlargements  from  the  plates,  estimated,  when 
complete  for  the  entire  atlas  of  the  sky,  to  form  a  pile  thirty 
feet  high  and  two  tons  in  weight. 

The  great  cooperative  undertaking  just  described  is  one  that 
involves  dealing  with  a  task  that  is  too  large  for  a  single  institu- 
tion, and  therefore  calls  for  a  division  of  labor  among  a  number 
of  participants.  It  should  be  remembered,  however,  that  a  very 
different  mode  of  attacking  such  a  problem  may  be  employed. 
In  fact,  although  the  difference  between  the  two  methods  may 


398  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

seem  on  first  examination  to  be  slight,  it  nevertheless  involves 
a  fundamental  question  of  principle,  so  important  that  it  calls 
for  special  emphasis  in  any  discussion  of  cooperative  research. 
One  of  the  great  problems  of  astronomy  is  the  determination 
of  the  structure  of  the  sidereal  universe.  Its  complete  solution 
would  involve  countless  observations.  Nevertheless,  Professor 
Kapteyn,  the  eminent  Dutch  astronomer,  resolved  many  years 
ago  to  make  a  serious  effort  to  deal  with  the  question.  In  order 
to  do  so,  as  he  had  no  telescope  or  other  observational  means 
of  his  own,  he  enlisted  the  cooperation  of  astronomers  scattered 
over  the  whole  world. 

In  organizing  his  attack,  he  recognized  that  the  inclusion  of 
only  the  brighter  stars,  or  even  of  all  those  contained  in  the 
International  Chart  of  the  Heavens,  would  not  nearly  suffice 
for  his  purpose.  He  must  penetrate  as  far  as  possible  into  the 
depths  of  space,  and,  therefore,  thousands  of  millions  of  stars 
are  of  direct  importance  in  his  studies.  Moreover,  it  is  evident 
that  if  he  were  to  confine  his  attention  to  some  limited  region 
of  the  sky,  he  could  form  no  conclusion  regarding  the  distribu- 
tion of  stars  in  other  directions  in  space  or  such  common 
motions  as  might  be  shown,  for  example,  by  immense  streams 
of  stars  circling  about  the  center  of  the  visible  universe. 

As  the  measurement  of  the  positions,  the  motions,  the  bright- 
ness, and  the  distances  of  all  the  stars  within  the  reach  of  the 
most  powerful  telescopes  would  be  a  truly  Utopian  task,  Pro- 
fessor Kapteyn  wisely  limited  his  efforts,  and  at  the  same  time 
provided  a  means  of  obtaining  the  uniformly  distributed  obser- 
vations essential  to  the  discussion  of  his  great  problem.  His 
simple  plan  was  to  divide  the  entire  sky  into  a  series  of  206 
Selected  Areas,  thus  providing  sample  regions,  uniformly  spaced 
and  regularly  distributed  over  the  entire  celestial  sphere.  Con- 
clusions based  upon  the  observation  of  stars  in  these  areas  are 
almost  as  reliable,  so  far  as  large  general  questions  of  structure 
and  motion  are  concerned,  as  though  data  were  available  for  all 
the  stars  of  the  visible  sidereal  universe. 

As  already  remarked,  Professor  Kapteyn  depends  entirely 


THE  POSSIBILITIES  OF  COOPERATION      399 

upon  the  volunteer  efforts  of  cooperating  astronomers  in  various 
parts  of  the  world.  One  of  these  astronomers  assumes  such 
a  task  as  the  determination  of  the  brightness  of  the  stars,  of 
a  certain  range  of  magnitude,  in  the  Selected  Areas.  Another 
deals  with  their  positions  and  motions,  another  with  their 
velocities  measured  with  the  spectroscope,  etc.  Each  observer 
is  able  to  take  a  large  number  of  Selected  Areas,  covering  so 
much  of  the  sky  that  he  may  separately  discuss  the  bearing  of 
his  results  on  some  important  problem,  such  as  the  distribution 
of  the  stars  of  each  magnitude  with  reference  to  the  plane  of 
the  Galaxy,  the  motions  in  space  of  stars  of  different  spectral 
types,  the  velocity  and  direction  of  the  sun's  motion  in  space, 
the  dependence  of  a  star's  velocity  upon  its  mass.  Moreover, 
each  observer  is  free  to  use  his  utmost  ingenuity  in  devising 
and  applying  new  methods  and  instruments,  in  increasing  the 
accuracy  of  his  measures,  and  in  adopting  improved  means  of 
reducing  and  discussing  his  observations.  He  also  enjoys  the 
advantage  of  observing  stars  for  which  many  data,  necessary 
for  his  own  purposes,  have  been  obtained  by  other  members 
of  the  cooperating  group.  Outside  the  Selected  Areas,  such 
data  are  usually  lacking,  because  so  small  a  proportion  of  the 
total  number  of  stars  has  been  accurately  observed. 

In  physics,  as  well  as  in  astronomy,  there  are  innumerable 
opportunities  for  cooperative  research.  A  good  illustration  is 
afforded  by  the  determination  of  the  exact  wave-lengths  of  lines 
in  the  spectra  of  various  elements,  for  use  as  standards  in 
measuring  the  relative  positions  of  lines  in  the  spectra  of 
celestial  and  terrestrial  light-sources.  This  work  was  initiated 
in  1904  by  the  International  Union  for  Cooperation  in  Solar 
Research,  and  is  now  being  continued  by  the  International 
Astronomical  Union.  The  spectrum  of  iron  contains  thou- 
sands of  lines,  many  of  which  are  well  adapted  for  use  as 
standards.  The  work  of  determining  their  positions  was  under- 
taken by  the  members  of  an  international  committee,  in  accord- 
ance with  certain  specifications  formulated  by_the  Solar  Union. 
But  those  who  took  part  in  the  investigation  were  not  bound 


400  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

by  any  rigid  rule.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  encouraged  to 
make  every  possible  innovation  in  the  manner  of  attack,  in 
order  that  obscure  sources  of  error  might  be  discovered  and 
the  highest  possible  accuracy  in  the  final  results  attained.  The 
outcome  demonstrates  most  conclusively  that  organized  effort 
and  freedom  of  initiative  are  by  no  means  incompatible.  Im- 
portant instrumental  improvements  of  many  kinds  were  effected, 
sources  of  error  previously  unsuspected  were  brought  to  light, 
and  means  of  eliminating  them  were  devised.  A  by-product  of 
the  investigation,  of  great  fundamental  interest,  was  the  dis- 
covery that  the  peculiar  displacements  of  certain  lines  in  the 
spectrum  of  the  electric  arc,  which  are  greatest  near  the  nega- 
tive pole,  are  due  to  the  influence  of  the  electric  field.  These 
displacements,  previously  unsuspected,  are  sufficient  to  render 
such  lines  wholly  unsuitable  for  use  as  standards  unless  rigor- 
ous precautions  are  observed.  The  international  committee,  in 
the  light  of  the  new  information  thus  rendered  available,  will 
now  have  no  difficulty  in  completing  its  task  of  determining  the 
positions  of  standard  lines  with  an  accuracy  formerly  unattain- 
able. 

The  variation  of  latitude  is  another  subject  in  which  inter- 
national cooperation  has  yielded  important  results.  It  was 
found  some  years  ago  by  astronomical  observations  that  the 
earth's  axis  does  not  maintain  a  fixed  direction  in  space,  but 
moves  in  such  a  way  as  to  cause  the  earth's  pole  to  describe 
a  small  but  complicated  curve  around  a  mean  position.  The 
change  in  the  direction  of  the  axis  is  so  small,  however,  that 
the  most  accurate  observations,  made  simultaneously  at  differ- 
ent points  on  the  earth,  are  required  to  reveal  it.  These  were 
undertaken  at  several  stations  widely  distributed  in  longitude, 
in  Italy,  Japan,  and  the  United  States.  A  new  photographic 
method  has  recently  been  devised  which  will  probably  render 
unnecessary  the  use  of  more  than  two  stations  in  future  work. 

An  extensive  cooperative  investigation  planned  by  the  Divi- 
sion of  Geology  and  Geography  of  the  National  Research  Coun- 
cil involves  the  joint  efforts  of  geologists  and  chemists  in  the 


THE  POSSIBILITIES  OF  COOPERATION      401 

study  of  sediments  and  sedimentary  deposits.  This  is  of  great 
importance  in  connection  with  many  aspects  of  geological  his- 
tory, and  also  because  of  its  bearing  on  economic  problems, 
such  as  the  origin  and  identification  of  deposits  or  accumula- 
tions of  coal,  oil,  gas,  phosphates,  sodium  nitrate,  clay,  iron, 
manganese,  etc. 

The  essential  requirements  are  sufficient  information  on  ( I ) 
modern  sediments  and  deposits,  and  (2)  changes  in  sediments 
after  deposition  and  the  causes  of  such  changes. 

In  the  study  of  sediments  now  in  process  of  formation  it  is 
important  to  learn  the  mechanical  state  and  shapes  of  particles 
of  different  sizes,  their  mineralogical  and  chemical  composition, 
the  arrangements  of  the  material  composing  the  deposit,  the 
source  of  the  material,  the  transporting  agencies,  and  the  cause 
of  precipitation.  Modern  deposits  must  be  studied  in  the  scores 
of  forms  in  which  they  are  laid  down:  in  deserts  and  arid 
regions  and  in  humid  climates,  in  the  beds  of  great  lakes,  in 
the  track  of  glaciers,  and  in  marine  beds  off  the  coast,  in  deltas 
and  bays,  or  on  submarine  plateaus,  in  lagoons,  and  on  reefs 
in  subtropical  and  tropical  waters. 

In  much  of  this  work  chemical  investigations  are  essential, 
especially  on  the  composition  of  the  waters  flowing  into  the 
ocean,  yielding  data  on  the  chemical  degradation  of  the  con- 
tinent and  the  amount  of  soluble  material  discharged  into  the 
sea. 

In  undertaking  this  extensive  investigation,  which  would 
include  the  studies  just  cited  and  others  on  ancient  deposits,  the 
following  procedure  is  proposed:  (i)  To  make  a  more  com- 
plete survey  than  has  yet  been  made  of  the  investigations  that 
are  at  present  under  way  in  the  United  States  and  Canada. 
(2)  To  prepare,  in  the  light  of  present  geological  knowledge, 
a  program  for  the  investigations  needed  to  supply  an  adequate 
basis  for  interpreting  sediments.  As  knowledge  advances,  the 
program  will  have  to  be  modified.  (3)  To  canvass  the  field  for 
existing  agencies  that  are  suitable  for  prosecuting  such  investi- 
gations. (4)  To  assign  problems  to  those  institutions  or  indi- 


402  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

viduals  prepared  properly  to  prosecute  researches  of  the  kind 
needed.  (5)  To  provide  additional  agencies  for  the  study  of 
problems  of  sedimentation  and  thereby  make  possible  investiga- 
tions for  which  there  are  either  no  provisions  or  only  inadequate 
provisions  at  present. 

It  is  easy  to  see  how  an  investigator  choosing  to  deal  with 
some  aspects  of  this  large  general  problem  would  be  assisted 
by  information  regarding  related  work  planned  or  in  progress, 
and  how  readily,  as  a  member  of  the  group,  he  could  render 
his  own  researches  more  widely  useful  and  significant. 

Another  interesting  piece  of  cooperative  research,  which 
involves  the  joint  activities  of  geographers,  physicists,  zoolo- 
gists, and  practical  fishermen,  is  centered  largely  at  the  Marine 
Biological  Laboratory  at  La  Jolla,  California.  Systematic 
measurements  of  the  temperature  of  the  Pacific  near  the  coast 
show  occasional  upwelling  of  cold  water.  Simultaneous  bio- 
logical studies  reveal  a  change  in  the  distribution  of  microscopic 
organisms  with  the  temperature  of  the  water.  This  has  an 
immediate  practical  bearing,  because  the  distribution  of  the 
organisms  is  a  dominant  factor  in  the  distribution  of  certain 
food  fishes.  The  source  of  the  temperature  changes,  and  their 
influence  on  meteorological  phenomena,  are  other  interesting 
aspects  of  this  work. 

In  the  field  of  engineering,  the  possibilities  of  cooperative 
research  are  unlimited.  The  fatigue  phenomena  of  metals  have 
been  chosen  by  the  Engineering  Division  of  the  National  Re- 
search Council,  acting  in  conjunction  with  the  Engineering 
Foundation,  as  the  subject  of  one  of  many  cooperative  investi- 
gations. Metals  and  alloys  which  are  subjected  to  long- 
repeated  stresses  frequently  break  down,  especially  in  aircraft, 
where  the  weight  of  the  parts  must  be  reduced  to  a  minimum. 
The  elastic  limit  and,  to  a  lesser  degree,  the  ultimate  strength  of 
steel  can  be  raised  by  working  it  cold,  provided  that  a  period  of 
rest  ensues  after  cold-working.  The  tests  indicate,  however, 
that  increased  static  strength  due  to  cold-working  does  not 
necessarily  indicate  increased  resistance  to  fatigue  under  re- 


THE  POSSIBILITIES  OF  COOPERATION      403 

peated  stress.  In  the  case  of  cold-stretched  steel,  for  low 
stresses  the  fatigue  strength  is  actually  less  than  for  the  same 
steel  before  stretching. 

These  phenomena,  and  others  that  illustrate  the  complexity 
of  this  problem,  afford  abundant  opportunity  for  further  re- 
search. The  membership  of  the  committee  includes  representa- 
tives of  educational  institutions,  the  Bureau  of  Standards,  and 
several  large  industrial  establishments.  The  work  was  divided 
among  the  members,  two  dealing  with  its  metallographic 
features,  two  with  machines  for  testing,  two  with  mechanics  of 
the  materials  involved,  and  one  with  a  survey  of  the  subject 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  steel  manufacturer.  The  results 
already  obtained  promise  much  for  the  future  success  of  this 
undertaking. 

Scores  of  other  illustrations  of  effective  cooperation  in  re- 
search might  be  given,  especially  in  astronomy,  where  each  of 
the  32  committees  of  the  International  Astronomical  Union 
(p.  412  ff.)  is  constituted  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  coopera- 
tive investigations.  In  spite  of  the  length  of  this  list  of  com- 
mittees, it  cannot  be  said  that  astronomy  offers  any  unique 
possibilities  of  joint  action.  The  division  of  the  sky  among 
widely  separated  observers  is  only  a  single  means  of  coopera- 
tion, which  may  be  paralleled  in  geology,  paleontology,  geog- 
raphy, botany,  zoology,  meteorology,  geodesy,  terrestrial  mag- 
netism and  other  branches  of  geophysics,  and  in  many  other 
departments  of  science.  Most  of  the  larger  problems  of  physics 
and  chemistry,  though  open  to  study  in  any  laboratory,  could 
be  attacked  to  advantage  by  cooperating  groups.  In  fact,  it 
may  be  doubted  whether  research  in  any  field  of  science  or  its 
applications  would  not  benefit  greatly  by  some  form  of  coopera- 
tive attack. 

As  for  the  fear  of  central  control,  and  of  interference  with 
personal  liberty  and  individual  initiative,  which  has  been  enter- 
tained by  some  men  of  science,  it  certainly  is  not  warranted  by 
the  facts.  Cooperative  research  should  always  be  purely 
voluntary,  and  the  development  of  improved  methods  of  obser- 


404  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

vation  and  novel  modes  of  procedure,  not  foreseen  in  preparing 
the  original  scheme,  should  invariably  be  encouraged.  They 
may  occasionally  upset  some  adopted  plan  of  action,  but  if  the 
cooperating  investigators  are  following  the  wrong  path,  or 
neglecting  easily  available  means  of  improving  their  results, 
the  sooner  this  is  discovered  the  better  for  all  concerned. 


XXIII 

THE  INTERNATIONAL  ORGANIZATION  OF 
RESEARCH 

GEORGE  ELLERY  HALE 

THE  progress  of  research,  and  the  rapid  advance  of  knowl- 
edge along  particular  lines,  have  naturally  resulted  in 
the  highly  specialized  organization  of  science  of  the  present 
day.  Two  centuries  ago  the  Royal  Society  of  London  and  the 
Paris  Academy  of  Sciences  could  easily  embrace  the  whole 
range  of  science,  and  include  in  their  membership  essentially 
all  of  the  able  investigators  of  England  and  France.,  The 
establishment  of  the  Linnean  Society  in  1788  marked  the  begin- 
ning of  a  dispersive  movement  that  has  continued  ever  since. 
The  Geological  Society  was  instituted  in  1807  and  the  Royal 
Astronomical  Society  in  1820,  partly  as  the  result  of  the  ac- 
cumulation of  valuable  observations  too  extensive  for  the  Royal 
Society  to  publish.  One  by  one  the  recognized  branches  of 
science  took  definite  form,  developed  a  large  group  of  adherents, 
and  a  special  society  resulted.  Engineering  and  medicine  ex- 
perienced the  same  progress,  large  general  societies  being 
followed  by  special  organizations  occupying  particular  fields. 
Civil,  mechanical,  mining,  and  electrical  were  the  first  great 
subdivisions  of  engineering,  but  recent  years  have  brought 
increased  specialization,  and  we  now  have  societies  of  naval, 
illuminating,  automotive,  and  refrigerating  engineering,  fol- 
lowed within  the  past  year  by  a  society  devoted  to  electric 
welding.  Medicine  has  also  divided  into  many  elements,  and 
it  is  safe  to  predict  that  new  special  bodies  will  continue  to 
arise  as  workers  multiply. 

405 


406  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

This  rapid  progress  of  subdivision  indicates,  of  course,  a  most 
healthy  condition  of  affairs.  Without  intense  concentration  of 
interest  and  effort  science  and  its  applications  could  never  have 
attained  their  present  advanced  position.  Specialization  in 
research,  and  the  association  of  specialists  in  groups,  must, 
therefore,  be  regarded  as  signs  of  progress.  But  the  conse- 
quences of  this  movement  are  not  wholly  advantageous.  The 
separation  of  investigators  of  somewhat  different  tastes  has 
deprived  them  of  many  mutual  benefits.  In  each  branch  of 
science  instruments  and  methods  are  devised  to  meet  particular 
needs.  These  may  have  many  applications,  direct  or  indirect, 
in  other  quarters,  but  for  the  most  part  they  remain  the  undis- 
puted possession  of  those  acquainted  with  the  special  journals 
in  which  they  are  described.  How  often  does  the  physicist 
consult  the  proceedings  of  a  psychological  society,  or  the 
engineer  a  journal  of  physiology?  Yet  problems  often  arise  in 
which  the  experience  gained  in  remote  fields  would  be  invalu- 
able. More  often,  when  some  large  problem  is  open  to  attack, 
its  aspects  are  so  various  that  investigators  representing  a  dozen 
branches  of  science  may  be  needed  to  deal  with  it  effectively. 
It  then  appears  most  clearly  how  the  artificial  partition  of 
knowledge,  and  the  erection  of  barriers  between  those  con- 
cerned with  its  increase  and  those  most  interested  in  its  applica- 
tions, must  hamper  effort  and  delay  progress. 

Without  specifying  other  reasons,  it  is  plain  that  the  increase 
of  specialization,  instead  of  rendering  unnecessary  organiza- 
tions dealing  with  science  as  a  whole,  has  served  to  emphasize 
their  possibilities.  In  fact,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  there 
was  ever  a  time  in  the  history  of  science  when  such  bodies 
could  render  a  greater  service.  The  rise  of  astrophysics  and 
physical  chemistry  is  evidence  enough  of  the  advantage  of 
bridging  the  gaps  between  diverging  branches,  and  the  great 
national  academies  of  science  are  in  a  position  to  contribute  in 
large  measure  toward  this  end. 

In  a  previous  chapter  (i)  we  have  seen  how  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences,  acting  on  the  approach  of  war,  estab- 


INTERNATIONAL  ORGANIZATION  407 

lished  the  National  Research  Council.  The  immediate  purpose 
in  view  was  to  effect  a  working  federation  of  research  agencies, 
without  regard  for  the  distinctions  which  have  divided  them 
into  classes,  and  kept  them  from  acting  together.  The  organ- 
ization then  effected  was  a  temporary  one,  designed  for  war 
service,  and  open  to  reconstruction  to  meet  the  needs  of  peace. 
In  chapter  24  Dr.  Angell  describes  the  present  organization  of 
the  Council  and  the  nature  of  its  work.  We  may  therefore 
turn  to  the  question  of  the  international  organization  of  science. 
•  The  international  scientific  associations  that  existed  before 
the  war  were  of  several  distinct  types.  Some  devoted  their 
efforts  to  the  establishment  of  uniform  standards  of  measure, 
others  organized  cooperative  researches,  while  the  majority 
held  occasional  congresses  for  the  personal  interchange  of 
views.  The  most  important  body  of  the  first  type  is  the  Inter- 
national Metric  Commission,  with  its  International  Bureau  of 
Weights  and  Measures  at  Sevres,  chiefly  concerned  with  funda- 
mental standards  of  length  and  mass.  Other  bodies  of  this 
class  dealt  with  electrical  units  and  standards,  the  standardiza- 
tion of  the  nomenclature  and  ratings  of  electrical  apparatus  and 
machinery,  uniformity  in  the  methods  of  testing  materials, 
annual  revision  of  the  tables  of  atomic  weights,  annual  publica- 
tion of  physical  and  chemical  constants,  the  science  and  art  of 
illumination,  collaboration  in  the  publication  of  astronomical 
ephemerides,  uniformity  in  meteorological  observations  and 
their  reduction,  the  determination  of  standards  of  wave-length, 
the  classification  of  stellar  spectra,  and  the  unification  of  time 
standards. 

Men  of  science  interested  primarily  in  cooperative  research 
organized  the  International  Chart  of  the  Heavens,  observations 
to  determine  the  variation  of  latitude,  seismological  observa- 
tions, explorations  of  the  sea,  solar  observations,  studies  of 
the  brain,  and  other  investigations.  Other  international 
organizations  dealt  with  agricultural  information  and  statistics, 
physiological  instruments,  the  telegraphic  distribution  of  astro- 
nomical information,  the  preparation  of  a  joint  map  of  the 


408  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

world  on  a  uniform  scale,  agreements  regarding  telegraphy  and 
wireless  telegraphy,  and  the  preparation  of  the  International 
Catalogue  of  Scientific  Literature. 

Periodic  international  congresses,  chiefly  for  the  interchange 
of  views,  were  held  in  mathematics,  chemistry,  mining  and 
related  subjects,  engineering,  radio-activity,  botany,  geology, 
zoology,  entomology,  ornithology,  physiology,  anatomy,  anthro- 
pology, medicine,  surgery,  cancer  research,  medical  radiology, 
and  geography. 

Finally,  without  attempting  to  refer  to  all  international  scien- 
tific and  technical  organizations,  mention  should  be  made  of  the 
International  Association  of  Academies,  in  which  most  coun- 
tries were  represented  by  a  single  leading  national  Academy, 
though  Germany  exercised  exceptional  influence  because  of  the 
inclusion  of  the  Academies  of  Berlin,  Gottingen,  Leipzig,  and 
Munich. 

Many  of  these  international  bodies  were  formed  to  meet  some 
special  need,  and  they  had  become  so  numerous  that  men  of 
science  interested  in  the  larger  aspects  and  relationships  of 
their  personal  researches  were  often  unable  to  attend  meetings 
of  importance  to  them.  Thus  in  astronomy  independent  bodies 
dealt  with  the  International  Chart  of  the  Heavens,  solar  obser- 
vations, Kapteyn's  Selected  Areas,  time  standards,  astronomical 
ephemerides,  distribution  of  astronomical  telegrams,  minor 
planets,  and  other  subjects,  and  there  was  no  appropriate 
organization  to  initiate  new  projects  falling  outside  of  certain 
limited  fields.  In  chemistry  five  distinct  organizations  existed, 
and  yet  there  was  little  international  cooperation  in  research. 
In  geophysics  separate  bodies  were  concerned  with  geodesy, 
meteorology  (almost  exclusively  from  the  standpoint  of  official 
routine),  terrestrial  magnetism  (without  real  activity),  seis- 
mology, and  other  branches  of  the  subject,  and  there  was  no 
means  of  securing  common  consideration  of  major  problems 
embracing  several  aspects  of  this  extensive  science.  The  Asso- 
ciation of  Academies  was  not  sufficiently  representative  of  the 
countries  it  included,  was  without  permanent  headquarters  or 


INTERNATIONAL  ORGANIZATION  409 

adequate  funds,  had  no  contact  with  the  great  majority  of 
international  scientific  organizations,  and  was  almost  completely 
inactive  between  its  triennial  meetings. 

With  such  considerations  in  view,  the  Royal  Society  called 
an  Inter-Allied  Conference  on  International  Scientific  Organiza- 
tions, which  opened  in  London  on  October  9,  1918.  Belgium, 
Brazil,  France,  Great  Britain,  Italy,  Japan,  Serbia,  and  the 
United  States  were  represented  by  delegates.  The  first  act 
of  the  London  Conference  was  to  define  the  attitude  of  the 
bodies  represented  toward  the  question  of  future  relations  with 
the  men  of  science  of  the  Central  Powers.  The  declaration 
unanimously  adopted  pointed  out  that  after  the  opening  of 
hostilities  men  of  science  were  still  able  to  hope  for  an  immedi- 
ate resumption  of  scientific  relations  between  enemy  countries 
on  the  conclusion  of  peace,  in  harmony  with  previous  experi- 
ence. Unfortunately,  however,  the  atrocities  committed  by 
Germany  and  her  allies  have  created  a  new  situation  in  the 
present  war.  The  work  of  international  scientific  associations, 
unlike  business  dealings  or  formal  diplomatic  procedure,  results 
from  personal  meetings  between  friends,  who  must  act  together 
in  harmony  and  personal  regard.  Such  personal  relations,  espe- 
cially with  the  men  whose  families  and  acquaintances  have 
suffered  such  shameless  brutality  in  the  invaded  countries,  are 
manifestly  impossible  at  present,  and  they  cannot  be  resumed 
until  Germany  and  her  allies  have  been  readmitted  to  the 
concert  of  civilized  nations,  and  have  renounced  the  political 
methods  which  have  led  to  the  atrocities  that  have  shocked  the 
civilized  world. 

No  one  who  is  familiar  with  the  nature  of  international  scien- 
tific organizations,  and  has  learned  by  personal  visits  to  the 
devastated  countries  something  of  the  feeling  of  their  scientific 
men,  can  doubt  the  necessity  of  this  conclusion.  The  men  of 
science  of  these  countries  cannot  be  expected  to  entertain  cor- 
dial regard  toward  the  invaders,  and  they  unanimously  refuse  to 
meet  them  personally.  Those  who  do  not  sympathize  with  this 
attitude  will  still  be  compelled  to  choose  between  association 


4io  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

with  our  Allies  or  with  the  Germans.  Moreover,  even  if  per- 
sonal meetings  were  immediately  possible,  they  would  delay 
rather  than  hasten  the  ultimate  resumption  of  friendly  relations, 
because  of  the  bitter  arguments  that  would  certainly  occur. 

Under  the  circumstances,  the  Conference  decided  to  recom- 
mend withdrawal  from  former  international  organizations  and 
the  formation  of  new  ones,  in  which  nations  that  had  been 
neutral  in  the  war  would  be  invited  to  take  part.  It  was  recog- 
nized, of  course,  that  some  of  the  old  organizations  would 
doubtless  be  reconstituted  and  these  need  not  be  duplicated. 
But  in  other  cases,  as  the  illustrations  just  cited  sufficiently  in- 
dicate, there  were  important  reasons  for  complete  reorganiza- 
tion, notably  in  astronomy,  geophysics,  and  chemistry.  There 
was  also  a  strong  demand  for  a  body  with  more  general  func- 
tions, to  carry  out  the  tasks  that  the  International  Association 
of  Academies  had  failed  to  perform. 

A  plan  for  the  establishment  of  an  International  Research 
Council,  prepared  by  the  Council  of  the  National  Academy  of 
Sciences,  was  presented  to  the  London  Conference  by  the 
American  delegates.  This  proposed  the  organization,  by  the 
'"National  Academy  of  each  of  the  countries  represented,  of  a 
National  Research  Council,  so  constituted  as  to  be  a  federation 
of  research  agencies.  The  details  of  organization  were  to  be 
left  to  each  country,  but  the  general  principle  of  uniting  re- 
search interests  in  a  single  representative  body  was  approved. 
The  International  Research  Council  would  then  consist  of  a 
federation  of  these  National  Research  Councils. 

A  second  Inter-Allied  Conference  was  held  in  Paris  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Paris  Academy  of  Sciences  from  November 
26  to  November  29,  1918.  Delegates  were  present  from  the 
countries  represented  in  London,  and  also  from  Poland,  Portu- 
gal, and  Roumania.  The  International  Research  Council,  pro- 
posed in  the  resolutions  adopted  in  London,  was  provisionally 
constituted  of  the  delegates  attending  the  Paris  Conference, 
with  the  understanding  that  the  various  National  Research 
Councils,  as  soon  as  formed,  would  take  their  place  in  the 


INTERNATIONAL  ORGANIZATION  411 

federation.  An  executive  committee  of  five  members,  repre- 
senting France,  Great  Britain,  Belgium,  Italy,  and  the  United 
States,  was  appointed  to  study  in  detail  the  questions  presented 
to  the  Conference  and  to  undertake  other  duties,  especially  those 
relating  to  the  formation  of  new  international  organizations. 

Provisional  statutes  were  adopted  for  an  International  Astro- 
nomical Union  and  an  International  Union  of  Geodesy  and 
Geophysics.  Plans  for  an  International  Chemical  Union  were 
also  presented  for  subsequent  consideration  and  action. 

The  International  Research  Council  and  its  associated  bodies, 
the  International  Astronomical  Union,  the  International  Geo- 
detic and  Geophysical  Union,  and  the  International  Union  of 
Pure  and  Applied  Chemistry,  were  formally  inaugurated  at  the 
Palais  des  Academies,  Brussels,  at  a  meeting  held  July  18-28, 
1919.  Tentative  statutes  were  also  adopted  for  the  following 
bodies,  which  will  be  organized  as  soon  as  circumstances  war- 
rant, and  with  such  modifications  as  careful  consideration  may 
render  advisable :  International  Unions  of  Mathematics,1 
Physics,  Radiotelegraphy,  Geography,  Geology,  Biology  and 
Medicine,  and  Bibliography. 

The  objects  of  the  International  Research  Council,  as  defined 
at  the  Brussels  meeting,  are  : 

(i).  To  coordinate  international  activities  in  the  various 
branches  of  science  and  its  applications. 

(2).  To  encourage  the  formation  of  international  Associa- 
tions or  Unions  needed  to  advance  science. 

(3)-  To  guide  international  scientific  activities  in  fields  where 
no  adequate  organization  exists. 

(4).  To  establish  relations  with  the  governments  represented 
in  the  Union  for  the  purpose  of  interesting  them  in 
scientific  projects. 

The  General  Assembly,  consisting  of  the  accredited  delegates 
of  the  various  countries  represented  in  the  International  Re- 

1  Already  in  process  of  organization. 


4i2  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

search  Council,  meets  triennially  at  the  permanent  headquarters 
in  Brussels.  Between  meetings  the  work  is  conducted  by  an 
Executive  Committee,  now  comprising  one  representative  each 
from  France,  Great  Britain,  Italy,  Belgium,  and  the  United 
States,  but  soon  to  be  enlarged  by  the  addition  of  other  mem- 
bers. In  accordance  with  the  plan  presented  by  the  National 
Academy  of  Sciences  to  the  London  Conference,  the  United 
States  is  represented  in  the  International  Research  Council  by 
its  National  Research  Council. 

The  International  Astronomical  Union  unites  in  a  single  body 
those  who  formerly  took  part  in  the  work  of  the  International 
Chart  of  the  Heavens,  the  International  Union  for  Cooperation 
in  Solar  Research,  the  International  Union,  for  the  Determina- 
tion of  Time  and  Longitude,  International  Conferences  on 
Ephemerides,  the  centralization  of  astronomical  telegrams,  and 
other  groups,  formally  or  informally  constituted,  that  dealt  with 
international  cooperation  in  astronomy  and  its  applications. 

The  objects  of  the  Union  are  to  facilitate  international 
cooperation  in  research,  and  to  advance  the  study  of  all  branches 
of  astronomy.  Each  country  represented  in  the  Union  organ- 
izes a  National  Committee,  preferably  in  conjunction  with  its 
National  Research  Council,  for  the  purpose  of  aiding  and 
coordinating  its  astronomical  activities,  with  special  reference 
to  the  requirements  of  international  cooperation  in  research. 
These  Committees  also  select  the  delegates  to  meetings  of  the 
International  Union. 

The  range  and  variety  of  international  activities  in  astronomy 
may  be  illustrated  by  an  enumeration  of  the  cooperative  re- 
searches and  projects  already  initiated  by  the  Astronomical 
Union.  Thirty-two  committees,  comprising  in  their  member- 
ship the  leading  investigators  of  all  the  countries  represented 
in  the  Union,  have  undertaken  to  deal  with  the  following  sub- 
jects: relativity;  the  republication  of  astronomical  classics; 
notation,  units,  and  economy  of  publication;  cooperation  in 
the  publication  of  nautical  almanacs  and  astronomical 
ephemerides;  abstracts  and  bibliographies;  the  distribution  of 


INTERNATIONAL  ORGANIZATION  413 

astronomical  telegrams ;  dynamical  astronomy  and  astro- 
nomical tables ;  meridian  circle  observations,  including  the 
study  of  atmospheric  refraction ;  optical  investigations,  both 
theoretical  and  applied,  relating  to  astronomical  problems  and 
the  physical  study  of  instruments ;  solar  radiation ;  registration 
of  the  velocities  of  solar  vapors;  the  solar  atmosphere;  ex- 
peditions for  the  observation  of  eclipses  and  other  astro- 
nomical phenomena ;  standards  of  wave-length  and  solar 
spectrum  tables ;  solar  rotation ;  physical  observations  of 
planets ;  nomenclature  of  lunar  phenomena ;  determination  of 
longitudes  by  wireless  telegraphy ;  variation  of  latitude ;  minor 
planets ;  comets ;  meteors ;  the  International  Chart  of  the 
Heavens ;  stellar  parallaxes ;  stellar  photometry ;  double  stars ; 
variable  stars ;  nebulae ;  classification  of  stellar  spectra ;  stellar 
radial  velocities ;  time  standards  and  determinations ;  and  the 
reform  of  the  calendar.  This  bare  enumeration  can  give  lit- 
tle conception  of  the  importance  of  the  work  of  the  Astro- 
nomical Union,  but  if  it  were  feasible  in  the  available  space 
to  outline  the  work  of  some  of  these  committees,  and  to  indi- 
cate the  advantages  that  must  result  from  a  combined  attack 
on  astronomical  problems,  in  which  the  ablest  investigators 
will  utilize  the  instrumental  resources  of  scores  of  great  ob- 
servatories in  accordance  with  a  general  plan  of  operations, 
the  true  possibilities  of  such  united  effort  would  become  ob- 
vious. 

The  scope  of  the  International  Union  of  Geodesy  and 
Geophysics  is  no  less  comprehensive.  Its  objects  are  to  en- 
courage the  study  of  problems  relating  to  the  figure  and  physics 
of  the  earth,  to  initiate  and  coordinate  investigations  requiring 
the  cooperation  of  several  countries,  and  to  facilitate  special 
investigations,  such  as  the  inter-comparison  of  instruments. 
The  Union  is  constituted  of  six  Sections,  dealing  with  (i) 
Geodesy,  (2)  Seismology,  (3)  Meteorology,  (4)  Terrestrial 
Magnetism  and  Electricity,  (5)  Physical  Oceanography,  (6) 
Volcanology.  Each  of  these  Sections  appoints  special  inter- 
national committees,  similar  to  those  of  the  Astronomical  Union, 


4i4  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

to  organize  cooperative  researches  in  their  respective  fields. 
Action  has  necessarily  been  delayed  in  some  of  the  Sections, 
but  a  preliminary  list  of  projects  already  initiated  by  the  Sec- 
tion of  Terrestrial  Magnetism  and  Electricity  will  serve  to  in- 
dicate the  character  of  the  cooperative  work  to  be  undertaken 
in  this  branch  of  the  Union.  These  involve  the  comparison 
of  the  magnetic  instruments  in  use  in  different  countries,  and 
the  determination  of  the  best  method  of  measuring  the  mag- 
netic elements  in  absolute  units ;  the  study  of  atmospheric  elec- 
tricity by  a  joint  committee  of  the  Section  of  Meteorology  and 
the  Section  of  Terrestrial  Magnetism  and  Electricity;  coopera- 
tion with  the  proposed  International  Union  of  Scientific  Radio- 
Telegraphy  in  the  investigation  of  the  electric  phenomena  of 
the  higher  atmosphere;  the  systematic  exchange  of  magnetic 
curves ;  the  appointment  from  time  to  time  of  special  commit- 
tees to  investigate  and  report  on  specific  problems  in  the  field 
of  the  Section;  and  cooperation  with  the  International  As- 
tronomical Union  in  investigating  the  relationships  between 
solar  and  terrestrial  magnetic  and  electrical  phenomena. 

The  American  branch  of  the  International  Union  of  Geodesy 
and  Geophysics  was  organized  by  the  Division  of  Physical 
Sciences  of  the  National  Research  Council.  Out  of  this  has 
grown  the  American  Geophysical  Union,  which  officially  repre- 
sents the  United  States  in  the  International  Union  and  retains 
organic  connection  with  the  Division  of  Physical  Sciences. 

The  rapid  development  of  chemistry  in  recent  years,  and  the 
limitless  variety  of  its  applications  in  the  arts  have  led  to  a 
great  advance  in  the  public  appreciation  of  this  branch  of 
science.  The  possibilities  of  international  cooperation  in 
chemical  research  are  at  least  as  great  as  in  astronomy  and 
geophysics,  but  prior  to  the  war  only  a  beginning  had  been  made 
in  utilizing  them.  The  organization  of  the  International  Union 
of  Pure  and  Applied  Chemistry,  in  which  the  United  States  is 
represented  by  the  Division  of  Chemistry  and  Chemical  Tech- 
nology of  the  National  Research  Council,  supplies  the  means 


INTERNATIONAL  ORGANIZATION  415 

of  securing  the  cooperation  of  chemists  engaged  both  in  funda- 
mental investigations  and  in  industrial  research. 

The  objects  of  this  Union  are  to  provide  for  permanent  co- 
operation between  the  chemical  societies  of  the  nations  repre- 
sented, to  coordinate  their  scientific  and  technical  procedure, 
and  to  contribute  to  the  advancement  of  chemistry  in  all  of  its 
aspects. 

The  first  task  to  be  undertaken  by  authority  of  this  Union 
will  be  the  preparation  and  publication,  under  American 
auspices,  of  a  critical  compendium  of  physical  and  chemical 
constants,  as  part  of  the  contribution  of  the  United  States 
toward  an  international  program  of  documentation  which  will 
be  developed  as  rapidly  as  possible.  The  National  Research 
Council,  with  the  support  of  the  American  Chemical  Society 
and  other  national  societies,  has  been  requested  to  organize 
the  editorial  board  and  secure  funds  for  this  large  project, 
which  will  naturally  involve  considerable  expense.  This  board, 
while  charged  with  complete  responsibility,  will  conduct  the 
work  on  an  international  basis,  with  the  aid  of  assistant  editors 
and  collaborators  in  the  principal  nations  of  the  International 
Union.  Other  large  cooperative  projects  will  be  taken  up  later. 

The  International  Research  Council  provides  the  long- 
desired  means  of  coordinating  the  activities  of  international  sci- 
entific bodies,  which  in  the  past  have  almost  invariably  worked 
independently  —  a  condition  no  longer  possible  if  real  efficiency 
is  to  be  expected.  Similar  confusion  has  prevailed  in  each 
of  the  participating  countries,  where  no  agency  has  existed  to 
bring  together  men  engaged  in  different  classes  of  international 
research.  In  the  United  States  this  difficulty  has  been  over- 
come by  the  organization  of  the  Division  of  Foreign  Relations 
of  the  National  Research  Council.  This  division,  the  organiza- 
tion of  which  is  more  fully  described  on  page  424,  acts  for  the 
National  Research  Council  in  dealings  with  the  International 
Research  Council,  promotes  cooperation  in  matters  of  common 
interest  between  the  American  National  Committees  or  other 


416  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

• 
national  representatives  of  international  organizations,  aids  in 

the  initiation  of  new  international  unions,  keeps  the  State  De- 
partment in  touch  with  pending  scientific  and  technical  ques- 
tions in  which  the  Government  may  be  interested,  and  publishes 
annual  summaries  of  international  activities  in  science  and 
technology. 

If  space  permitted,  it  would  be  interesting  to  survey  the 
work  of  other  important  international  organizations  in  which 
the  United  States  takes  a  prominent  part,  such  as  the  Inter- 
national Electrotechnical  Commission,  the  International  Con- 
ference on  Electrical  Units  and  Standards,  the  International 
Commission  of  Illumination,  and  of  such  bodies  as  the  National 
Research  Council  Committee  on  Pacific  Exploration,  whose 
projects  are  of  international  scale.  Since  it  is  manifestly  im- 
possible, however,  to  cover  such  extensive  ground,  this  chapter 
has  been  confined  to  a  sketch  of  some  developments  resulting 
from  the  war  which  have  led  to  a  new  and  promising  unifica- 
tion of  research  activities,  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the 
times. 


XXIV 

THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL 
JAMES  R.  ANGELI/ 

UNTIL  the  organization  of  the  National  Research  Council, 
scientific  research  in  the  United  States  had  been  carried 
on  by  a  group  of  agencies  working  for  the  most  part  in  inde- 
pendence of  one  another.  Research  in  pure  science  has  beerT^ 
chiefly  cultivated  in  the  universities  and  in  a  small  group  of 
privately  endowed  research  institutes.  The  scientific  bureaus 
of  the  Federal  Government  and  certain  of  the  scientific  agencies 
of  the  several  states  have  from  time  to  time  devoted  themselves 
to  investigations  in  this  field ;  but  in  the  main,  they  have  almost 
inevitably  been  monopolized  by  problems  of  applied  science 
possessing  the  urgency  of  pressing  practical  necessity.  The 
sum  total  of  the  scientific  work  carried  on  by  these  state  and 
federal  agencies  (e.  g.,  the  federal  Department  of  Agricul- 
ture, the  state  experiment  stations,  state  geological  surveys, 
etc.)  has  been  very  large,  and  its  significance  for  the  welfare 
of  the  public  has  been  of  the  highest  consequence.  The  re- 
search aspects  of  applied  science  have  also  been  represented 
to  some  extent  in  the  industrial  laboratories  of  the  country, 
certain  of  which  have  been  developed  to  a  very  high  degree  of 
efficiency,  although  the  number  of  such  laboratories  is  lament- 
ably small  when  compared  with  the  need  and  the  opportunity. 

Merely  to  state  the  foregoing  facts  is  to  suggest  the  valid     , 
conclusion  that  the  best  results  in  research  can  never  accrue 
under  conditions  so  lacking  in  unity  and  coherence  of  purpose.  , 
The  National  Research  Council,  created  by  the  relentless  pres- 
sure of  the  war,  is  endeavoring  to  secure  in  times  of  peace  the 


418    .          THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

close  cooperation,  both  in  the  planning  and  execution  of  re- 
search, requisite  to  bring  to  the  nation  the  largest  possible  re- 
wards from  scientific  investigation.  Clearly,  there  are  other 
methods  than  those  represented  by  the  Research  Council 
whereby  to  achieve  these  desired  ends,  and  a  few  words  of 
comment  may  serve  to  exhibit  the  considerations  which  have 
justified  the  course  pursued. 

The  policy  adopted  by  certain  other  countries,  notably  Great 
Britain,  Japan,  Italy,  the  Dominions  of  Australia  and  Canada, 
might  with  modifications  have  been  imitated.  In  this  case, 
research  in  its  largest  bearings  would  be  made  dependent  upon 
the  control  and  financial  support  of  the  Federal  Government, 
which  might  create  its  own  agencies  through  which  to  work  or 
might  allot  subventions  for  purposes  of  research  to  extant 
organizations,  whether  directly  under  Government  control  or 
not.  Assuming  that  Congressional  appropriations  might  be 
secured  in  necessary  amounts,  this  type  of  plan  might  be  ex- 
pected to  produce  results  upon  a  large  scale  more  rapidly  than 
any  other,  but  experience  has  shown  that  under  the  actual  con- 
ditions in  the  United  States,  direct  federal  supervision  of  scien- 
tific work  is  likely  to  carry  with  it  substantial  limitations  which 
would  in  the  long  run  seriously  reduce  the  efficiency  of  re- 
search. 

Another  possible  method  would  be  the  creation  through  pri- 
vate benefactions  of  a  colossal  endowment  to  be  administered 
vlike  certain  of  the  present  research  institutes.  The  great  dif- 
ficulty here  is  the  magnitude  of  the  capital  required  to  cover  so 
wide  a  field  as  is  represented  by  the  National  Research  Council. 
The  institutes  referred  to  follow  as  a  rule  only  a  single  branch 
of  work.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Council  as  a  federation  of 
scientific  agencies  would  be  free  from  the  objection  sometimes 
urged  against  these  research  foundations,  i.e.,  that  they  are 
purely  private  organizations,  and  as  such,  are  likely  to  be  auto- 
cratic and  arbitrary  in  their  methods. 

In  its  present  organization,  the  National  Research  Council 
represents  the  attempt  to  accomplish  in  a  democracy,  and  by 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL        419 

democratic  methods,  results  of  the  most  lasting  national  benefit 
in  the  field  of  research  in  pure  and  applied  science.  For  rea- 
sons of  the  kind  indicated  above,  it  has  not  been  thought  ad- 
visable to  make  it  directly  dependent  upon  the  Government, 
although  it  does  enjoy  an  important  measure  of  Government 
recognition  through  its  Government  Division,  through  its  con- 
tact with  the  State  Department,  explained  at  a  later  point,  and 
through  its  relation  to  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences, 
which  possesses  a  federal  charter,  and  which  by  the  Executive 
Order  of  President  Wilson  on  May  n,  1918,  created  the 
Council  as  an  official  agency  of  the  Academy.  The  Council 
has  achieved  its  democratic  element  by  arranging  that  its  mem- 
bership shall  be  controlled  by  the  great  scientific  societies,  of 
which  upwards  of  forty  are  now  represented  in  its  constitu- 
ency. These  societies  elect  to  the  scientific  and  technical  Divi- 
sions of  the  Council  a  majority  of  their  representatives,  and 
these  representatives  in  turn  select  the  administrative  officers 
who  shall  direct  the  actual  scientific  enterprises  which  the  Divi- 
sions undertake.  These  directing  officers,  known  as  Chair- 
men, receive  salaries  from  funds  of  the  Council  which  have 
been  secured  by  private  benefactions,  and  serve  normally  for 
one  year  at  a  time  with  residence  in  Washington. 

Following  the  traditions  of  the  National  Academy  of  Sci- 
ences, the  field  of  work  of  the  National  Research  Council  has 
for  the  present  been  restricted  to  the  physical  and  natural 
sciences.  The  lines  which  divide  the  sciences  from  one  another 
in  any  generation  are  necessarily  somewhat  arbitrary,  and  the 
organization  of  the  Council  reflects  something  of  this  arbitrary 
character.  There  are  accordingly  seven  sub-divisions  devoted 
to  the  following  groups  of  sciences:  (i)  the  physical  sciences, 
including  physics,  mathematics,  and  astronomy;  (2)  engineer- 
ing in  all  its  branches;  (3)  chemistry  and  chemical  technology; 
(4)  geology  and  geography;  (5)  the  medical  sciences  (both 
the  clinical  aspects  and  those  of  the  underlying  pure  sciences)  ; 
(6)  biology  and  agriculture;  (7)  anthropology  and  psychology. 
These  groups  may  be  conceived  as  furnishing  the  foundations 


420  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

upon  which  the  great  mass  of  the  research  interests  of  the 
Council  is  based.  They  also  represent  the  vast  preponderance 
of  the  personnel  operating  through  the  Council,  for  it  is  upon 
the  membership  of  the  scientific  and  technical  societies  that 
the  Council  is  ultimately  grounded,  as  has  been  explained  in  an 
earlier  paragraph. 

The  informed  reader  will  observe  that  these  Divisions  relate 
in  part  to  the  pure  sciences ;  physics,  chemistry,  mathematics 
are  cases  in  point.  In  part,  however,  they  reflect  the  interests 
of  applied  science,  as  in  the  case  of  engineering,  of  chemical 
technology,  and  to  some  extent  each  of  the  other  Divisions. 
The  distinction  between  pure  and  applied  science  is  one  which 
has  been  frequently  debated,  and  upon  which  substantial  di- 
versity of  opinion  is  still  entertained.  But  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  conception  upon  which  the  work  of  the  Council  is 
actually  administered,  this  distinction  may  be  regarded  as  al- 
most wholly  psychological  in  character.  The  worker  in  pure 
science  is  seeking  primarily  to  enlarge  the  field  of  knowledge, 
and  to  gratify  his  own  intellectual  curiosities,  whereas  the 
worker  in  applied  science  has  as  his  motive  the  solution  of 
some  concrete  practical  problem.  Both  men  are  scientists,  and 
both  may  be  engaged  in  bona  fide  research  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance. 

Despite  the  fact  that  the  distinction  just  mentioned  is  from 
the  theoretical  point  of  view  of  relatively  secondary  conse- 
quence, its  practical  aspects  give  it  great  significance,  and  this 
fact  has  been  explicitly  recognized  in  the  organization  of  the 
Council,  as  will  be  pointed  out  in  a  moment. 

In  view  of  the  exposition  in  the  opening  paragraphs  of  the 
actual  extant  conditions  surrounding  scientific  research  in  this 
country,  it  will  be  readily  appreciated  that  the  scientific  work 
of  the  Divisions  already  described  must  be  intelligently  related 
to  a  considerable  group  of  interests  and  agencies.  To  accom- 
plish these  results,  the  Council  has  established  a  group  of  six 
so-called  General  Divisions  designed  to  meet  this  need. 

I.  Government  Division.     In  the  first  place,  it  is  highly  es- 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL        421 

sential  that  the  Council  should  operate  in  the  closest  possible 
contact  with  the  scientific  agencies  of  the  Federal  Government. 
Not  only  because  of  the  magnitude  and  variety  of  the  enter- 
prises conducted  by  government  scientists,  but  also  because  of 
the  close  connection  thus  afforded  with  issues  of  crucial  mo- 
ment for  the  public  welfare.  It  is  quite  indispensable,  if  the 
.  Council  is  to  achieve  its  intrinsic  purposes,  that  it  should  be 
kept  in  intimate  relations  with  all  this  work.  To  achieve  this 
end,  the  so-called  Government  Division  has  been  formed,  upon 
which,  by  appointment  of  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
are  representatives  of  each  of  the  scientific  and  educational 
bureaus  of  the  federal  service.  These  include  not  only  such 
scientific  groups  as  are  represented  by  the  Bureau  of  Standards 
of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  the  Bureau  of  Chemistry 
of  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  but  also  the  scientific  and 
technical  services  of  the  army  and  navy. 

The  constituency  of  this  Division  at  the  present  moment  is 
made  up  of  forty-one  members.  Several  beneficial  results  are 
hoped  for  from  the  work  of  the  Division.  As  indicated  above, 
it  will  serve  as  a  liaison  agency  to  keep  the  several  Divisions 
of  the  Council  in  touch  with  the  scientific  work  which  is  being 
done  by  the  Government.  It  will  also  afford  opportunity  for 
the  converse  of  these  advantages  in  bringing  constantly  before 
the  notice  of  representatives  of  the  Government  the  more  im- 
portant scientific  projects  which  are  going  forward  under  other 
auspices  both  in  this  country  and  abroad.  Finally,  it  is  believed 
that  the  Division  may  serve  to  perpetuate  and  develop  a  full 
and  frank  cooperation  among  the  scientific  forces  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, such  as  was  successfully  initiated  by  the  Council 
during  the  war,  but  which  prior  to  that  time  had  not  generally 
existed.  Moreover,  it  may  be  hoped  to  offer  a  channel  through 
which  cooperative  enterprises  may  be  launched.  These  may 
affect  either  the  relations  among  the  Government  bureaus 
themselves,  or  the  relations  of  these  bureaus  to  outside  scien- 
tific agencies  with  which  they  have  not  hitherto  been  in  active 
contact.  There  is,  in  other  words,  obvious  opportunity  for 


422  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

team-play  which  has  not  up  to  this  time  been  at  all  fully  de- 
veloped. Incidentally,  it  seems  not  too  much  to  hope  that  a 
fuller  knowledge  among  representatives  of  the  scientific  bureaus 
of  the  Government,  each  regarding  the  work  of  the  others,  may 
exercise  a  highly  beneficial  influence  in  discouraging  radical 
and  inexpedient  legislative  action  such  as  has  been  more  than 
once  threatened  in  the  ill-informed  attempt  to  avoid  duplica- 
tion of  government  work  where  only  the  appearance  and  not 
the  fact  of  such  duplication  is  involved. 

2.  Foreign  Relations  Division.  For  many  years  past  there 
have  been  international  organizations  of  a  scientific  character, 
certain  of  which  have  enjoyed  the  official  recognition  and  sup- 
port of  the  Government,  others  of  which  have  been  conducted 
independently  of  any  such  support.  It  appears  at  once,  upon 
the  most  superficial  inspection,  that  certain  types  of  scientific 
problems  can  only  be  effectively  attacked  by  international  co- 
operation. Astronomy,  seismology,  and  meteorology  afford 
abundant  instances  of  such  problems.  Prior  to  the  Great  War, 
various  international  scientific  unions  had  been  developed,  some 
of  which  conducted  extensive  cooperative  researches.  These 
organizations  were  inevitably  shattered  by  the  effects  of  the 
war,  and  to  take  their  place,  there  was  created  at  Brussels  in 
July,  1919,  an  International  Research  Council,  composed  of 
representatives  of  the  Allied  powers.  To  this  organization 
several  of  the  neutral  countries  have  already  declared  adher- 
ence, and  in  due  time  it  may  be  expected  that  the  Central  Pow- 
ers will  also  be  admitted. 

In  the  establishment  of  this  International  Research  Council, 
our  own  Council  exercised  a  large  measure  of  initiative,  and 
with  the  establishment  of  the  new  organization,  the  national 
council  has  become  its  official  American  representative.  Com- 
plete details  of  the  international  organization  are  still  in  process 
of  development,  but  in  general,  the  plan  involves  a  series  of 
constituent  unions,  e.  g.,  astronomy,  mathematics,  biology, 
chemistry,  etc.,  as  described  by  Dr.  Hale  in  Chapter  XXIII. 

To  the  Foreign  Relations  Division  of  the  National  Research 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL       423 

Council  is  confided  responsibility  for  the  administration  of  the 
joint  international  interests  of  the  several  American  organiza- 
tions represented  in  the  International  Council,  and  also  the 
supervision  of  any  other  desirable  international  scientific  mat- 
ters. A  representative  of  the  State  Department  (at  the  mo- 
ment, the  Honorable  William  Phillips)  acts  as  one  of  the  vice- 
presidents  of  the  Division,  and  thus  assures  organic  contact 
with  the  affairs  of  that  Department.  The  Division  as  at  pres- 
ent constituted  includes  the  President  and  Foreign  Secretary 
of  the  National  Academy  of  Sciences;  the  President  or  other 
representative  of  the  American  Association  for  the  Advance- 
ment of  Science,  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society,  and 
of  the  American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences;  representa- 
tives of  the  Department  of  State ;  representatives  of  the  leading 
international  scientific  and  technical  organizations  in  which 
the  United  States  participates;  certain  officials  of  the  National 
Research  Council;  and  a  group  of  members  at  large,  chosen 
for  their  nationally  representative  qualities. 

The  work  of  this  Division  is  not  only  of  signal  consequence 
from  the  strictly  scientific  point  of  view,  it  is  also  pregnant  of 
political  consequences  of  prime  importance,  for  nowhere  are 
sympathetic  and  appreciative  international  relations  so  easily 
cultivated  as  in  the  realm  of  science.  How  sorely  the  new 
world  stands  in  need  of  such  friendly  bonds  is  already  pain- 
fully apparent. 

3.  States  Relations  Division.  In  many  states  of  the  Union 
there  are  important  scientific  and  technical  activities  under  state 
control,  dealing  with  geology,  public  health,  fisheries,  forestry, 
and  other  subjects.  During  the  war  the  formation  of  State 
Councils  of  Defense  brought  representatives  of  such  agencies 
into  groups,  comprising  also  representatives  of  educational  and 
other  institutions.  In  some  instances,  of  which  California 
affords  a  notable  illustration,  very  efficient  Research  Commit- 
tees thus  resulted,  which  dealt  successfully  with  war  problems 
arising  locally  or  making  demands  upon  the  natural  resources 
or  agencies  of  the  State  in  question.  Some  of  these  committees 


424  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

have  been  perpetuated,  and  in  other  instances  similar  commit- 
tees are  to  be  formed.  The  Division  of  States  Relations  of  the 
Research  Council,  which  began  its  work  during  the  war,  has 
now  been  permanently  established  with  the  following  functions : 

1.  To  obtain  information  as  to  the  most  effective  types  of 
organization  which  may  represent  the  group  of  departments 
concerned    with    research    within    a    state    government.     The 
method  by  which  these  groups  can  be  brought  together  may  not 
be  the  same  in  all  cases.     This  has  been  done  by  a  central  com- 
mittee in  California,  and  in  part  by  a  Board  of  Natural  Re- 
sources and  Conservation  in  Illinois.     Still  other  variations  of 
method  may  be  expected  in  accomplishing  this  coordination  in 
other  states. 

2.  To  obtain  an  acquaintance  with  the  best  methods  of  co- 
operation between  the   departments  of  the  state  government 
and  the  institutions  within  the  state, —  educational,  commer- 
cial, industrial,  and  governmental, —  which  are  concerned  with 
research.     Close  connection  between  the  work  of  the  Division 
of  States  Relations  and  the  Division  of  Educational  Relations 
will  be  essential,  as  educational  institutions  are  important  cen- 
ters for  research  work. 

3.  To  consider  the  most  effective  methods  of  research  co- 
operation between  states,  and  to  study  also  the  problem  of  the 
relations  between  the  scientific  agencies  of  the  states  and  those 
of  the  Federal  Government. 

The  success  of  the  work  of  this  Division  will  necessarily  be 
in  large  degree  contingent  upon  the  response  of  the  scientific 
and  political  authorities  of  the  several  states.  The  Council 
is  in  no  position  to  employ  any  coercion  in  the  matter,  and  if  it 
were,  would  not  desire  to  do  so.  The  response,  however, 
which  has  already  been  accorded  to  the  suggestion  that  the 
States  Relations  Division  should  exercise  the  functions  men- 
tioned has  been  very  cordial  and  very  wide-spread.  There  is 
unquestionably  a  general  recognition  of  the  need  for  some  dis- 
interested and  competent  agency  to  meet  the  purposes  de- 
scribed, and  it  seems  reasonable  to  hope  that  substantial  as- 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL        425 

sistance  may  be  rendered  the  individuals  and  agencies  concerned 
in  their  attempts  to  serve  the  public  welfare  in  the  most  ef- 
fective manner. 

The  present  membership  of  the  Division  comprises,  in  addi- 
tion to  representatives  of  the  several  other  Divisions  of  the 
National  Research  Council  and  certain  groups  of  representa- 
tives chosen  at  large,  six  regional  representatives  of  state  re- 
search committees  and  representatives  from  organizations 
particularly  concerned  with  state  research  problems,  to  wit, 
the  Association  of  American  State  Geologists,  the  Society  of 
American  Foresters,  the  American  Association  of  State  High- 
way Officials,  and  the  International  Association  of  Game,  Fish, 
and  Conservation  Commissioners. 

4.  Educational  Relations  Division.  The  institutions  of 
higher  learning  in  the  United  States  represent  two  important 
groups  of  research  interests.  In  the  first  place,  a  considerable 
proportion  of  the  research  in  pure  science  is  carried  on  in  these 
institutions ;  and  in  the  second  place,  they  are  the  sole  sources 
from  which  there  is  to  be  derived  trained  personnel  for  ad- 
vanced scientific  work.  It  is  obvious  that  as  in  the  case  of  the 
other  Divisions  of  General  Relations,  the  several  Divisions  of 
Science  and  Technology,  mentioned  earlier  in  the  chapter,  sus- 
tain the  most  intimate  affiliations  with  the  Division  of  Educa- 
tional Relations,  representing  the  educational  institutions. 
Even  during  the  war,  therefore,  a  definite  effort  was  made  to 
organize  the  research  interests  in  these  educational  institutions ; 
and  the  peace-time  organization  of  the  Council  has  seen  in  this 
field  one  of  its  largest  opportunities,  and  one  of  its  most  press- 
ing obligations.  Again,  as  in  the  case  of  the  work  of  the 
States  Relation  Division,  there  is  and  can  be  no  question  of  a 
coercive  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  Council.  It  stands  to  these 
institutions  purely  in  the  relation  of  a  wotald-be  helper,  un- 
selfishly devoted  to  the  development  in  them  of  the  best  condi- 
tions for  productive  research  and  the  training  of  research  men. 
The  Division  has  initiated  its  work  by  a  careful  study  of  the 
facilities  for  research  work  in  the  major  institutions  of  the 


426  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

country.  It  is  hoped  on  the  basis  of  the  results  of  this  study 
that  it  may  be  possible  to  suggest  methods  of  improving  fa- 
cilities for  research  and  its  conduct. 

To  mention  but  a  single  point  illustrative  of  the  possibilities 
in  this  direction,  attention  may  be  called  to  the  present  entire 
lack  of  cooperation  and  mutual  understanding  among  the  uni- 
versities of  the  country  regarding  the  development  of  research 
facilities,  both  in  equipment  and  in  personnel.  At  present, 
it  may  be  said  to  be  the  common  ambition  among  the  stronger 
ilniversities  to  develop  research  in  practically  every  direction 
of  science.  This  policy,  if  continued  unmodified,  is  bound  to 
lead  to  the  most  wasteful  expenditure  by  the  needless  dupli- 
cation of  costly  plants  and  the  multiplication  of  personnel,  con- 
siderable portions  of  which  will  necessarily  be  of  inferior 
quality.  While  in  some  branches  of  science,  it  may  for  a  long 
time  to  come  be  difficult  to  produce  the  necessary  number  of 
trained  research  workers,  and  while  in  these  cases  multiplica- 
tion of  facilities  is  not  likely  to  be  wholly  unwarranted,  there 
are  many  lines  of  scientific  work  in  which  a  small  number  of 
institutions  would  be  entirely  adequate  to  produce  the  necessary 
personnel,  and  to  carry  forward  a  justifiable  amount  of  scien- 
tific research.  Only  on  the  basis,  however,  of  some  mutual 
understanding  among  the  authorities  of  these  institutions  can 
it  be  hoped  that  a  saner  and  a  more  judicious  program  can  be 
adopted.  It  is  not  altogether  Utopian  to  hope  that  the  National 
Research  Council  may  be  of  assistance  in  focusing  public 
opinion  upon  this  issue,  and  in  stimulating  definite  and  progres- 
sive action.  Unlike  most  of  the  other  agencies  concerned,  the 
Council  occupies  an  entirely  disinterested  attitude,  and  is  in  a 
position  to  assist  in  deciding  upon  the  intrinsic  merits  of  the 
case. 

In  addition  to  certain  members  chosen  at  large  to  represent 
a  broad  diversity  of  interests  and  certain  representatives  of 
other  Divisions  of  the  Council,  the  Division  is  at  present  com- 
posed of  representatives  of  the  following  associations,  i.  e.,  the 
Association  of  American  Colleges,  the  National  Association  of 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL       427 

State  Universities,  the  Association  of  American  Universities, 
and  the  American  Association  of  University  Professors. 

5.  Division  of  Research  Extension.  There  is  something  of 
a  paradox  in  the  fact  that  despite  the  reputation  of  the  United 
States  for  fertility  in  mechanical  inventiveness,  the  substantial 
productivity  of  the  country,  in  what  may  be  seriously  entitled 
scientific  industrial  research,  has  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
industries  been  conspicuously  small.  The  experiences  of  the 
war  brought  out  with  a  vividness  nothing  else  could  have  done 
the  backwardness  of  the  country  in  this  field  of  industrial  re- 
search. Whether  the  high  tariff  walls  which  have  generally 
existed  to  protect  our  industries,  or  the  fact  that  we  have  had 
an  adequate  outlet  for  our  industrial  energies  in  our  own  na- 
tional commerce,  had  concealed  the  real  conditions,  it  remains 
true  that  the  fact  of  our  backwardness  had  been  screened  from 
general  public  recognition.  Nothing  is  more  certain,  however, 
than  that  if  we  expect  to  gain  and  retain  our  fair  share  of  the 
control  of  foreign  markets,  especially  as  regards  Germany  and 
Great  Britain,  we  must  arouse  to  the  necessity  of  basing  our 
great  scientific  industries  more  fully  than  heretofore  upon 
sound  scientific  foundations.  We  must  also  appreciate  the 
fact  that  to  keep  them  abreast  of  the  times,  we  must  make  per- 
sistent use  of  scientific  research.  Recognizing  the  urgency  of 
this  general  situation,  the  National  Research  Council  has  estab- 
lished a  special  Division  (originally  called  the  Division  of  In- 
dustrial Relations,  but  now  known  as  the  Division  of  Research 
Extension),  devoted  to  the  promotion  of  a  wider  appreciation 
of  the  true  facts  of  the  case  and  to  the  stimulation  among  the 
industries,  wherever  possible,  of  active  research  enterprises. 

The  problem  here  subdivides  somewhat  naturally  into  two 
main  issues.  There  is,  on  the  one  hand,  the  case  of  the  great 
corporations  controlling  one  or  more  of  the  large  essential  in- 
dustries ;  and  there  is,  on  the  other  hand,  the  case  of  the  small 
manufacturer  who  may  or  may  not  be  engaged  in  an  industry 
already  occupied  by  dominating  corporations.  In  the  first  case, 
the  problem  is  one  of  persuading  the  directors  of  these  larger 


428  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

concerns  to  put  into  their  organization  program  provision  for 
adequate  research  laboratories  and  personnel.  It  might  be 
supposed  that  the  purely  selfish  interests  of  such  organizations 
would  already  have  led  them  to  go  as  far  in  this  direction  as 
current  industrial  circumstances  warrant.  There  are  not  a 
few  conspicuous  instances  in  which  this  is  true.  But  there  are 
many  others  in  which  for  various  reasons  a  fundamental  un- 
willingness to  encourage  the  establishment  of  research  organiza- 
tions is  deeply  ingrained.  Among  these  reasons  ranks  high 
a  not  altogether  intelligent  conservatism ;  and  the  dread  of  be- 
ing obliged  to  discard  extant  equipment  and  methods,  despite 
the  possibly  increased  profits,  also  figures  conspicuously.  Cer- 
tainly from  the  point  of  view  of  public  welfare  and  the  national 
position  in  times  of  peril,  it  is  highly  desirable  to  induce  these 
industries  to  adopt  an  enlightened  and  generous  policy  of  re- 
search. 

The  case  of  the  small  producer  is  quite  different.  It  is  out 
of  the  question  for  him  to  establish  a  laboratory  on  any  scale 
which  is  likely  to  promise  justification  in  terms  of  immediate 
financial  return.  There  is,  however,  no  reason  why  he  should 
not  combine  with  other  small  manufacturers  in  his  own  line 
of  work  to  finance  investigations  of  a  kind  directly  beneficial 
to  himself  and  his  colleagues.  This  plan  has  actually  been  tried 
both  in  this  country  and  abroad,  and  with  very  considerable 
success.  The  Research  Extension  Division  of  the  Council  has 
had  the  good  fortune  to  be  a  prime  mover  in  a  number  of 
projects  of  this  general  type,  and  while  the  specific  details  are 
likely  to  vary,  in  view  of  the  peculiar  conditions  met  with  in 
the  different  industries,  the  general  principle  of  cooperative 
work  has  apparently  come  to  stay. 

Not  the  least  interesting  of  the  developments  which  are  to 
be  hoped  for  from  this  stimulation  of  industrial  research  is 
-^/  I  a  recognition  on  the  part  of  the  industries  of  their  obligations 
to  the  discoveries  of  pure  science,  which  in  every  case  under- 
lie successful  improvements  in  industrial  practice.  It  seems 
hardly  too  much  to  believe  that  in  the  not  remote  future  this 


; 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL        429 

obligation  will  be  recognized  in  the  form  of  permanent  annual 
contributions  to  the  institutions  and  individuals  competent  to 
carry  on  fundamental  research  in  pure  science.  For  while 
it  is  never  possible  to  predict  at  just  what  point  a  discovery 
in  pure  science  may  assume  practical  significance  of  a  large 
kind,  it  is  abundantly  demonstrated  that  only  through  such  dis- 
coveries are  essential  improvements  in  scientific  technique  to 
be  obtained,  and  no  investment  of  financial  resources  is  so  likely 
in  the  long  run  to  be  productive  of  fundamental  improvement 
in  the  conditions  of  human  life.  While  such  an  investment 
of  money  is  in  a  certain  sense  philanthropic  or  often  specula- 
tive, it  is  in  the  long  run  an  investment  more  certain  than  any 
other  to  be  productive  of  the  highest  values  which  can  be  ob- 
tained by  human  ingenuity. 

6.  Research  Information  Service.  Despite  the  careful  study 
given  in  recent  years  to  the  general  problems  of  bibliography, 
it  is  still  true  that  for  many  of  the  purposes  of  scientific  research, 
the  present  available  resources  for  the  prompt  securing  of  essen- 
tial information  are  lamentably  defective.  The  intricacies  of 
modern  science  have  produced  a  situation  in  which  accurate 
and  exhaustive  knowledge  of  the  scientist's  own  special  field 
frequently  is  insufficient  to  serve  his  purposes.  Again  and 
again  it  becomes  necessary  for  him  to  secure  quickly  and  accu- 
rately information  from  other  cognate  fields  of  science,  and  in 
such  instances  the  present  machinery  for  the  speedy  attainment 
of  reliable  information  is  extremely  unsatisfactory. 

This  description,  which  applies  conspicuously  in  the  field  of 
pure  science,  is  even  more  significant  in  the  ranges  of  applied 
science  in  the  industries.  Many  of  the  industries  have  felt 
this  need,  and  have  made  sporadic  efforts  to  meet  it.  The 
engineering  fraternity  has  also  made  a  beginning  at  the  main- 
tenance of  a  bureau  to  supply  certain  types  of  information,  but 
all  these  efforts  are  thus  far  of  a  fragmentary  and  non-compre- 
hensive character.  The  Germans  had  built  up  at  Grosslichter- 
felde  a  great  organization  to  meet  precisely  these  needs,  and 
had  achieved  signal  success  in  their  undertaking.  It  is  our 


430  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

intention  to  surpass,  if  possible,  the  merits  of  that  institution. 
The  success  which  was  attained  during  the  war  in  establishing 
certain  features  of  this  Information  Service,  reference  to  which 
will  be  found  in  Chapter  3,  encourages  us  to  believe  that  our 
dream  may  come  true,  and  that  an  effective  organization  can  be 
developed  to  meet  the  necessities  in  times  of  peace. 

Without  attempting  to  portray  in  minute  detail  the  several 
aspects  of  the  work  of  this  Division  as  it  is  now  planned,  a 
brief  description  may  be  offered. 

(a)  Provision  will  be  made   for  a  catalogue  of   research 
laboratories,  and  already  we  have  a  list  of  such  covering 
approximately   5000   entries.     This   catalogue   includes 
both  laboratories  devoted  to  pure  science  and  those  deal- 
ing with  industrial  activities.     In  addition  to  the  name 
and  address  of  the  organization,  there  will  be  given  the 
name  of  the  director,  the  personnel  of  the  staff,  the 
chief  lines  of  research  pursued,  the  space  available,  the 
approximate  annual  expenditure,  and  in  short,  all  infor- 
mation necessary  to  give  a  clear  picture  of  the  type  of 
the  work  which  the  laboratory  may  be  expected  to  be 
competent  to  undertake. 

(b)  A  catalogue  of  current  investigations  will  be  developed. 
The  idea  of  rendering  available  information  regarding 
current  research  is  decidedly  novel,  and  at  first  sight, 
is  likely  to  be  thought  impracticable.     There  is  no  doubt 
that  the  possibilities  of  the  plan  vary  very  widely  in  the 
different  fields  of  science  and  in  the  different  industries ; 
but  there  is  also  no  question  that  in  certain  fields  it  is 
entirely  practicable,  and  that  wherever  it  can  be  brought 
about,  it  is  sure  to  possess  high  value.     So  long  as  scien- 
tific investigation  is  carried  on  in  a  purely  individualistic 
way,  and  surrounded  with  the  atmosphere  of  the  trade 
secret,  such  a  project  has,  of  course,  no  status.     Not 
only  are  the  possibilities  of  cooperative  research  becom- 
ing rapidly  more  widely  appreciated,  but  there  is  also  an 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL       431 

increasing  recognition  of  the  extent  to  which  scientific 
men  can  be  of  assistance  to  one  another  by  frank  and 
full  interchange  of  knowledge  regarding  current  work. 
At  present,  there  is  no  central  agency  which  can  serve 
as  an  exchange  for  such  information.  The  saving  of 
time  and  expense  represented  by  the  ability  to  draw  upon 
such  a  source  of  knowledge  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 
It  pre-supposes  on  the  part  of  the  individual  investigator 
not  only  the  willingness  to  make  periodic  communication 
regarding  his  own  work,  but  also  the  willingness  to  take 
the  small  amount  of  time  necessary  to  fill  out  the  enquiry 
cards  which  must  inevitably  be  used  if  the  information 
supplied  is  to  be  rendered  promptly  and  easily  available 
to  others. 

Naturally  the  industrial  laboratories  working  on  prob- 
lems which  directly  affect  their  competitive  relationships 
will  not  find  it  possible  to  participate  very  fully  in  this 
type  of  interchange  of  information.  In  so  far,  however, 
as  work  which  they  carry  on  has  significant  relations  to 
the  issues  of  fundamental  science,  there  is  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  they  too  will  be  willing  to  cooperate  in  this 
program. 

(c)  There  is  in  preparation  a  catalogue  of  research  personnel 
which  when  complete  will  supply  full  and  accurate  infor- 
mation regarding  the  professional  equipment  and  accom- 
plishments of  all  scientific  research  men,  with  their 
addresses.  The  Research  Information  Service  has 
already  received  so  many  important  enquiries  covering 
this  field  as  to  make  it  clear  that  there  is  a  very  genuine 
need  for  information  of  this  character.  If  a  university 
or  industrial  concern  desires  a  competent  research  man 
in  a  special  field,  there  is  at  present  no  means  of  getting 
the  necessary  information  save  by  slow  correspondence 
with  a  considerable  group  of  individuals  or  agencies, 
where  the  information  may  or  may  not  be  actually  avail- 
able. It  is  hardly  necessary  to  argue  the  utility  of  a 


432  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

service  of  the  proposed  type.  The  labor  of  preparing 
the  data  in  an  accurate  way,  and  the  difficulties  of  keep- 
ing it  up  to  date,  are  obvious,  but  they  are  in  no  sense 
insuperable. 

(d)  It  is  planned  to  develop  a  library  of  sources  of  research 
information.     This  would  include  bibliographies,  syste- 
matic abstracts,  digests,  hand  books,  and  other  conveni- 
ent periodical  or  special  sources  of  information  concern- 
ing research.     There  has  already  been  prepared  as  a 
preliminary  step  a  catalogue  of  bibliographic  and  abstract 
periodicals  of  the  world. 

(e)  For  the  use  of  the  several  Divisions  of  the  Council,  there 
has  been  prepared  a  catalague  of  scientific  and  technical 
societies  with  information  concerning  the  time  and  place 
of  meeting. 

(f)  An  index  of  approximately  12,000  cards  has  been  pre- 
pared, covering  all  foreign  reports  received  by  the  Re- 
search Information  Service. 

(g)  A  plan  has  been  devised  for  improving  the  status  of 
scientific  publications,  and  especially  for  rendering  ab- 
stracting  and   the   construction   of    hand   books    more 
satisfactory.     It  involves  cooperation  with  the  several 
Divisions  of  the  Council  in  the  conduct  of  systematic 
enquiry  concerning  the  status  of  publications  in  special 
fields  and  possible  methods  of  improvement. 

With  respect  to  bibliographic  listing  and  abstracting 
the  following  features  of  the  general  plan  deserve  re- 
mark: 

(i)  Formulation  of  carefully  considered  and  thoroughly 
tested  rules  for  the  preparation  of  abstracts  in  any 
given  field  of  science.  The  inadequacy  of  indices 
is  due  chiefly  to  the  fact  that  the  title  of  an  article 
is  assumed  to  be  an  accurate  and  complete  guide 
to  its  contents,  which  is  very  rarely  the  case.  It  is 
highly  desirable,  therefore,  that  a  system  be  devised 
which  will  present  in  the  briefest  and  most  precise 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL       433 

form  the  actual  significant  contributions  in  a  paper 
regardless  of  its  title. 

(2)  The  editorial  requirement  that  a  suitable  abstract 
prepared  in  accordance  with  these  rules  be  submitted 
with  a  manuscript  when  offered  for  publication. 

(3)  That  this  author's  abstract,  after  proper  editing,  be 
published  in  a  periodical  abstract  journal  (possibly 
monthly)  for  the  appropriate  science. 

(4)  That  all  abstracts  be  held  in  type  for  at  least  one 
year,  in  order  that  the  materials  may  be  reclassified 
according  to  subject  and  reprinted  as  an  annual 
topical  review.  / 

(5)  That  as  essential  parts  of  this  annual  topical  review 
for  any  given  field  of  science,  there  be  also  published 
complete  author  and  subject  lists. 

(6)  That  such  lists  be  accumulated  and  published  in 
separate  volumes  at  intervals  of  five  or  ten  years. 

The  ideal  execution  of  this  general  plan  will  de- 
mand    international     cooperation     by     developing 
methods,  and  by  the  assistance  of  special  scientific 
groups,    to    establish    suitable    abstract    or    other 
periodicals.     As  a  matter  of  fact,  encouraging  prog- 
ress has  already  been  made  with  several  of  the  more 
important  scientific  journals  which  have  adopted  the 
substance  of  the  proposals  involved  in  this  program, 
(h)  Although   this   Division   is   in   no   sense   primarily   re- 
sponsible  for  the  publication  policies  of  the   Council, 
it  has  contributed   substantially  to   their  development. 
These  policies  involve  the  publication  in  a  bulletin  series 
of   important  scientific  papers  which  do  not  find  any 
natural  place  in  extant  scientific  journals,  and  also  the 
circulation  of  reprints  of  important  papers  published  in 
media  reaching  but  a  limited  circle  of  readers.     Already 
there  have  appeared  several  reprints  and  the  following 
bulletins:   Number   i,   "  The   National   Importance   of 


434  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

Scientific  and  Industrial  Research,"  by  George  Ellery 
Hale  and  others ;  Number  2,  "  Research  Laboratories  in 
Industrial  Establishments  of  the  United  States  of 
America,"  compiled  by  Alfred  D.  Flinn;  and  Number  3, 
"  Periodical  Bibliographies  and  Abstracts  for  the  Scien- 
tific and  Technological  Journals  of  the  World,"  compiled 
by  R.  Cobb.  It  may  be  added  in  this  general  connection 
that  the  Proceedings  of  the  National  Academy  of 
Sciences  constitute  the  official  organ  of  the  National 
Research  Council,  and  that  in  addition  to  the  record  of 
the  Council's  transactions,  there  are  here  published  cer- 
tain of  its  scientific  contributions,  including  reports  of  its 
more  important  committees. 
********* 

It  is  out  of  the  question  within  the  limits  of  space  available 
to  enter  in  any  complete  way  upon  the  work  of  the  seven  Divi- 
sions of  Science  and  Technology,  mentioned  in  the  opening 
paragraphs  of  this  chapter.  Including,  as  these  do,  the  interests 
of  physics,  mathematics,  astronomy,  geodesy,  meteorology, 
seismology,  vulcanology,  engineering  in  all  its  branches, 
chemistry  and  chemical  technology,  geology  and  geography,  the 
medical  sciences,  zoology,  botany,  and  agriculture,  anthropology 
and  psychology,  it  would  obviously  be  impracticable  to  attempt 
any  detailed  description  of  the  scientific  research  work  which 
is  being  developed.  Two  considerations,  however,  deserve 
explicit  emphasis. 

In  the  first  place,  these  Divisions  are  composed  of  scientific 
men,  selected  by  their  peers  for  their  reputation  as  competent 
investigators  in  their  several  fields  of  work.  These  groups 
come  together  and  discuss  with  exhaustive  detail  the  most 
urgent  needs  in  their  own  research  fields  and  the  most  prac- 
ticable methods  of  meeting  these.  The  projects  which  they 
then  decide  upon  as  deserving  immediate  attention  represent 
the  most  mature  and  well-considered  opinions  of  the  men  best 
qualified  to  judge.  In  this  sense  the  projects  to  which  the 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL       435 

Council  commits  itself  are  based  upon  a  scientific  concensus 
of  opinion  such  as  has  never  before  been  available  in  this 
country. 

The  second  consideration,  and  one  of  perhaps  equal  impor- 
tance, is  that  the  Council  in  its  effort  to  stimulate  and  promote 
research  has  found  one  of  its  largest  fields  in  the  development 
of  cooperative  research  enterprises,  for  which  there  has  also 
been  hitherto  no  adequate  national  provision.  This  cooperation 
may  occur  as  between  individual  scientists  working  in  the  same 
field,  for  example,  physics  or  chemistry,  as  between  scientists 
in  different  fields,  as  between  research  organizations  like  uni- 
versities and  government  bureaus,  as  between  state  agencies  or 
state  and  federal  agencies,  and  finally,  as  between  the  con- 
sumers, so  to  speak,  of  research  represented  by  the  interests  of 
commerce  and  industry.  Every  one  of  the  great  fundamental 
problems  confronting  modern  society  leads  out  in  the  effort  to 
solve  it  into  a  large  group  of  related  but  often  distinct  sciences. 
For  example,  the  problem  of  fuels  is  in  part  one  of  chemistry, 
in  part  one  of  geology;  in  some  portions  of  the  world  one  of 
forestry,  in  part  one  of  transportation,  etc.  Food  production, 
distribution,  and  consumption  similarly  involve  a  wide  range 
of  scientific  problems,  partly  zoological,  partly  botanical  and 
agricultural,  partly  chemical,  partly  bacteriological,  etc. 
v  The  organization  of  the  Council  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  per- 
mit the  easy  assemblage  of  groups  of  competent  scientists  to  deal 
with  such  fundamental  issues  as  these,  with  which  no  single 
government  agency  and  no  other  single  scientific  agency  is  at 
the  moment  at  all  competent  to  cope.  One  or  two  illustrations 
of  the  kind  of  thing  the  scientific  Divisions  of  the  Council  are 
attempting  to  accomplish  may  be  permitted. 

We  may  take  one  instance  from  the  field  of  cooperation 
among  scientists  and  one  from  that  of  cooperation  among  the 
users  of  scientific  research  in  the  industries.  The  cases  are 
chosen  to  exhibit  the  possibilities  of  cooperation,  because  it  is 
at  that  point  that  our  present  national  organization  of  research 
is  most  defective,  and  the  need  for  an  agency  such  as  the 


436  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

Council  most  conspicuous.  During  the  war,  the  Council  was 
able  to  bring  about  a  large  number  of  cooperative  research 
undertakings,  but  these  were  mainly  represented  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  committees,  each  of  whose  members  was  a  specialist 
in  the  same  scientific  field,  and  they  worked  together  by  dividing 
the  problem  and  allocating  its  several  phases  to  one  or  another 
of  their  members.  This  is  a  highly  profitable  form  of  pro- 
cedure where  time  is  of  crucial  importance,  as  in  war,  but  it  is 
less  likely  to  commend  itself  to  scientists  in  time  of  peace. 
Meantime,  there  are  abundant  problems,  and  among  them  many 
of  fundamental  national  importance,  which  can  only  be  solved 
cooperatively  and  by  the  joint  action  of  specialists  representing 
quite  diverse  scientific  interests. 

The  Division  of  Biology  and  Agriculture  has  created  a  com- 
mittee for  the  study  of  the  problems  of  food  and  nutrition. 
The  general  field  of  work  has  been  subdivided  into  that  of 
human  nutrition  and  of  animal  nutrition.  A  group  of  some 
fifteen  eminent  scientists  have  come  together  and  made  a  pre- 
paratory survey  of  the  general  problem.  These  scientists 
represent  chemistry,  physiology,  zoology,  physiological  and 
biological  chemistry,  vital  statistics,  agriculture,  animal  hus- 
bandry, and  household  economics.  If,  as  their  work  develops, 
need  arises,  they  will  take  in  representatives  of  other  branches 
of  science.  The  war  made  it  quite  plain  that  there  is  a  prob- 
lem of  national  nutrition  quite  distinct  from  that  of  merely 
individual  nutrition,  and  to  this  the  committee  will  also  give 
attention.  It  will  at  best  be  several  years  before  the  full  fruits 
of  this  work  will  begin  to  come  in,  but  the  coercive  and  essenti- 
ally practical  character  of  the  problem  is  evident  the  moment 
one  faces  the  facts,  and  particularly  in  our  own  country,  where 
the  preparation  of  large  parts  of  the  food  material  of  the  people 
is  in  the  hands  of  a  few  great  industries.  The  old-fashioned 
community  lived  mainly  upon  its  own  immediate  neighborhood. 
The  modern  community  puts  under  contribution  for  its  food 
the  remotest  corners  of  the  earth.  The  committee  has  already 
made  an  excellent  beginning  in  its  work,  the  cost  of  which  will 


THE  NATIONAL  RESEARCH  COUNCIL       437 

probably  be  largely  met  by  the  more  directly  interested  indus- 
trial concerns. 

The  Institute  of  Baking  may  serve  to  illustrate  cooperation 
among  the  consumers  of  research.  The  big  industrial  concern 
can  often  afford  to  establish  its  own  research  laboratory,  and 
many  instances  of  such  procedure  might  be  cited.  But  the 
small  manufacturer  cannot  afford  this  luxury,  and  he  must 
either  go  without  it  or  join  with  other  small  concerns  to  estab- 
lish a  cooperative  research  enterprise.  The  National  Research 
Council  has  been  carrying  on  an  active  campaign  to  introduce 
the  formation  of  such  cooperative  arrangements  in  a  consider- 
able group  of  industries,  and  thus  far  with  very  encouraging 
success.  The  Instittfte  of  Baking  is  one  in  which  the  Council, 
through  its  Research  Extension  Division,  has  had  some  part. 

The  Institute  has  secured  the  use  of  an  admirably  equipped 
laboratory,  has  engaged  a  scientific  director,  who  has  entered 
into  advisory  relations  with  the  Council,  where  he  can  command 
suggestions  from  the  ablest  men  in  the  country  in  the  various 
problems  of  physics,  chemistry,  bacteriology,  etc.,  involved  in 
the  industry.  The  28,000  members  of  the  baking  trade  in  this 
country  will  be  the  direct  beneficiaries  of  this  work,  and  in- 
directly the  entire  community  will  profit  by  it. 

Many  other  instances  of  research  work  inaugurated  by  the 
Divisions  of  Science  and  Technology  might  be  adduced,  but 
these  must  suffice,  and  may  serve  to  convey  some  impression 
of  the  character  of  their  activities. 

Through  its  system  of  publications,  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made,  the  Council  attempts  to  give  some  publicity 
to  its  own  work  and  to  the  scientific  results  which  accrue  from 
it,  although  the  extant  agencies  for  scientific  publication  will 
no  doubt  care  for  the  larger  part  of  such  requirements.  In 
addition,  however,  to  this  attempt  to  bring  its  work  before  the 
public,  the  Council  has  entered  upon  a  system  of  exhibits,  which 
deserves  brief  mention. 

In  a  new  building,  which  will  serve  as  a  permanent  home  for 
the  National  Academy  of  Sciences  as  well  as  for  the  Council, 


438  THE  NEW  WORLD  OF  SCIENCE 

there  will  be  certain  permanent  exhibits  of  fundamental  scien- 
tific interest,  but  perhaps  more  significant  will  be  the  system 
of  rotating  exhibits  designed  to  show  the  latest  discoveries  in 
pure  and  applied  science  in  ways  readily  intelligible  to  the 
general  public.  These  exhibits  will  then  be  shown  in  other 
large  centers  throughout  the  country  wherever  satisfactory 
arrangements  can  be  made.  At  the  present  moment,  there  is 
being  shown  a  most  striking  exhibit  of  the  wireless  telephone 
and  of  the  essential  discoveries  in  pure  science  which  have  led 
up  to  its  perfection.  This  exhibit  has  been  prepared  by  the 
American  Bell  Telephone  and  Telegraph  Company  and  the 
Western  Electric  Company,  with  assistance  from  the  Signal 
Corps  of  the  army.  • 

It  is  hoped  by  these  methods  to  arouse  a  much  deeper  and 
more  widely  disseminated  public  appreciation  of  the  progress 
which  is  constantly  going  on  in  scientific  work,  and  of  the  sig- 
nificance of  this  work  for  the  prosperity  of  the  commonwealth. 
If  the  Council  can  accomplish  some  fraction  of  the  general  pur- 
poses which  have  been  outlined  in  this  chapter,  it  may  well 
feel  that  it  has  served  its  purpose.  Its  organization  is  plastic, 
and  can  be  made  to  conform  to  the  changing  needs  of  successive 
generations.  It  is  based  upon  an  unselfish  devotion  to  the  de- 
velopment of  human  welfare  through  the  most  energetic  prose- 
cution of  the  resources  of  science. 


INDEX 


Abstracts,  scientific,  432 
Academy  of  Sciences,  Paris,  3  ff. 
Aerogoniometry,        improvements 

in,  242 

Agriculture,  research  in,  29 
Airplane,   direction   finding   from, 
242 

engines  for,  260 

photography,  46,  91  ff. 

radio  communication,  235 
Ammonia,  absorption  of,  161 
Ammunition,    production   of,    134, 

254 

Amplification,  principle  of,  44-45 

Angell,  J.  R.,  417  ff. 

Antennae,  tree,  244 

Anthrax,  298 

Artillery,  and  meteorology,  54 

Association,    of    academies,   inter- 
national, 408 

Astronomy,  cooperation  in,  396 

Audition,    principle    of,    binaural, 
42-44 

Aviation,  charting  air  for,  58  ff. 
photography  in,  89  ff. 

Balloon,  for  military  use,  25 
Ballooning,  principle  of,  46,  50  ff. 
Bingham,  W.  V.,  381 
Bone  grafting,  324 
Bumstead,    H.    A.,    scientific    at- 
tache, London,  36 

Calories,  in  army  rations,  275 
Camera,  airplane,  94          „ 
Camps,  and  source  of  troops,  333 
Cannon,  manufacture  of,  254 
Carbon  monoxide,  159 
Cartography,   181  ff. 


Charcoal,  and  gas  warfare,  156 
Chemical  warfare,  casualties,  286 

results  of,  172 

service,  148  ff. 

history  of,  150 
Chemistry,   analytic   research,   167 

inorganic  research,   166 

of  explosives,   123  ff.,   134  ff. 

organic  research,   163 

union  for,  414 
Chemists,  census  of,  149 
Chlorine,  use  of,   152 
Civil  War,  science  in,  8 

photography  in,  89 
Color  photography,  97 
Commission,  Food,  267 
Conference,  of  Divisions  of  Phys- 
ical    Sciences     and     Engi- 
neering, 36 

Congresses,     international     scien- 
tific, 408 
Cooperation,  in  research,  393  ff. 

international,  19 
Cooperative  research,  427,  435 

examples  of,  396  ff. 
Council,  of   National   Defense,   16 

Davis,     W.     M.,     Handbook     of 

Northern   France,   190 
Death  rate,  in  A.  E.  K,  346 

in  army,  330 

in  camps,  331 
de     Tocqueville,     Democracy      in 

America,  8 
Diseases,  communicable,  329 

infectious,  293 

prevalent  in  army,  291  ff. 

respiratory,  302 

venereal,  346 


439 


440 


INDEX 


Division  of  Physical  Sciences,  of 
National  Research  Council, 

34 

executive  committee  of,  34 
problems  of,  37 
Dodge,    R.,    Mental    Engineering, 

386 

Educational  Relations,  Division 
of,  National  Research 
Council,  425 

Engineering,    cooperation    in,    402 
sanitary,    281 
services  of,  103,  221 
Engines,    airplane,    260 
England,    scientific    activities    of, 

39  ff. 
Epidemics,    comparative    toll    of, 

340 

Examination   of    recruits,   357 
Exhibits,    scientific,    438 
Explosives,  nitrogen  products  for, 

123  ff. 

quantities  of,  146 
problems  of,  139  ff. 
production  of,   134  ff. 

Food  Administration,  273 
Commission,  267 
problem,  265   ff. 

Foreign  Relations,  Division  of, 
National  Research  Council, 
422 

France,  development  of  science  in, 
3  ff. 

Gangrene,  anti-gas  serum,  301 

gaseous,    300 
Gas,  casualties   from,  286 

mask,  types  of,  162 

poisoning,    treatment    of,   287 

service,  151 
Gaseous  gangrene,  300 


Geography,   contributions   of,    177 

ff. 

Geology,  and  water  supply,  198  ff. 
contributions  of,  196  ff. 
cooperation   in,  400 
German  orders  concerning,  211- 

214 

uses    in   warfare,    201    ff. 
Geophysics,       organization        for, 

413,  414 

Goniometry,  238 

Government  Division,  of   Nation- 
al  Research   Council,  420 
Gregory,      H.      E.,      Introductory 

Meteorology,   190 
Military    Geology    and    Topog- 
raphy,   190 

Syllabus   in   Geography   of   Eu- 
rope,   190 

"Gun  and  Howitzer  Club,"  252 
Gun   factories,  253 
pointers,   selection   and  training 
of,    387 

Hale,  G.  E.,  3,   13,  393,  405 
Handbook,    of    Northern    France, 

TOO 
Handbooks,  prepared  by  National 

Research  Council,  26,  190 
Hanner,  J.  W.,  311 
Helmet,    cooperation    in    develop- 
ing,  24 

development  of,  257 
History,     of     Chemical     Warfare 

Service,   150 
of  explosives,   134  ff. 
of  optical  glass,  103  ff. 
of  Psychological  Service,  352  ff. 
of  signalling,  221    ff. 
Hospitals,    reconstruction    in,    289 
Howe,  H.  E.,  103  ff. 
Howe,  H.  M.,  247  ff. 

Illiteracy,   in  army,   376 


INDEX 


441 


Infectious  diseases,  293 

jaundice,   297 
Influenza,  305,  306  ff.,  339  ff. 

causes  of,  344-346 
Intelligence,    and    military    value, 

367  ff. 

and   occupation,   378 
individual  differences  in,  365 
of  negro,  376 

International     Astronomical    Un- 
ion, 403,  412 

organization  of  research,  405  ff. 
Research  Council,  formation  of, 

409  ff. 

objects  of,  411 
scientific    organization,    407 
Institute,    of    Baking,   437 

of  Egypt,  5 
Ives,   H.   E.,  89   ff. 

Jaundice,    infectious,    297 
Johnson,  D.   W.,   177  ff. 

Kapteyn,     cooperative     study     of 

stars,  398 

Kellogg,   V.,   265   ff. 
Kennelly,   A.    E.,   221    ff. 

Lachrymators,  166 
Lyster  bag,  use  of,  281 

Map,  making,   193 
of  system  of  wires,  224 

Maps,   geological,   205 
in  aerial  photography,  93 
military  uses  of,  181  ff. 

Measles,  305 

Medical  Corps,  personnel  of,  277 
Department,    Division    of    Food 

and    Nutrition,   273 
examination   and    rejection,   285 

Medicine,  in  the  war,  277  ff. 
preventive,    328    ff. 

Mental  age,  of  recruits,  375 


Metallurgy,        contributions       of, 

247  ff. 
Meteorology,    applications    of,  46, 

49  ff- 

Millikan,  R.  A.,  33  ff. 
Munroe,  C.  E.,  134  ff. 
Mustard  gas,  153 

Napoleon,  science  under,  3  ff. 
National    Academy    of    Sciences, 

founded,  9 

Institute  of  France,  5 
Research  Council,  and  Govern- 
ment  Bureaus,  38 
and      Psychological      Service, 

352 

National    Research    Council,    Di- 
vision of  Physical  Sciences, 

34 
of    Science   and    Research   of 

Signal  Corps,  22 
divisions  of,  419 
membership  of,  434 
organization    and    functions    of, 

417   ff- 
Research    Information    Service, 

34,  429 

scope    of,   419 
services  of,  13  ff. 
Negro,   intelligence  of,  376 
Nerves,  surgical  treatment  of,  325 
Neuroses,    of   war    (shell-shock), 

291 
New   London,   scientific   work   at, 

39 
Nitrogen,        fixation        processes, 

125  ff. 
Northcliffe,  Lord,  and  submarine 

problem,  38 
Noyes,  A.  A.,  123  ff. 


Occupation,  and  classification,  379 
in    relation   to   intelligence,    378 


442 


INDEX 


Optical     glass,     for     war     needs, 
103  ff. 

history  of,    103   ff. 

problem  of,  95,  114  ff. 
Ordnance,  production  of,  251 
Organization,  of  research,  405  ff. 

of  science,  394 

Organizations,  international  scien- 
tific,  407,  416 

national   scientific,   405 
Orthopedics,   319 

Peace    Conference,    and    geogra- 
phy,  192 
Personnel,     classification     of,     in 

army,  379 

of   Medical   Corps,   277 
Physical  science,  role  of,  33  ff. 
Physics,  cooperation   in,  399 
Photography,  airplane,  46,  91  ff. 
color,  97 
wartime,  89  ff. 

Plate,   for  aerial  photography,  96 
Pneumonia,  302 
cause   of,   343 

Preventive   medicine,  328  ff. 
Problems,   of    Division   of   Physi- 
cal Sciences,  37  ff. 
of  explosives,  139  ff. 
of  food,  265  ff. 

of  food  and  nutrition,  coopera- 
tive study,  436 
of  nutrition,  273 
of   optical  glass,  95,   114   ff. 
psychological,  386  ff. 
Psychological  examining,  cost  of, 

376 

methods  of,  358  ff. 
summary  of,  374 
ratings,  values  of,  373 
service,  principal  lines  of,  355 
theory    of,    358 
value  of,  375 
Psychology,  351   ff. 


contributions   of,  364  ff. 

reports      concerning      military, 

351 

Publications,  scientific,  432-433 
Pyrotechnic,    171 

Radio  communication,  230 
airplane,  235 

precision    and    range,    245 
goniometry,     improvements     in, 

238 

Ratings,  psychological,  362 
Ration,   for  average  man,  270 
Reconstruction,   and   surgery,   326 

in  hospitals,  289 
Re-education,  and  surgery,  326 
Research,   cooperation   in,   393   ff. 
Extension,     Division     of,     Na- 
tional     Research      Council, 
427 

Research,  organization  of,  405  ff. 
Information  Service,  of  Nation- 
al    Research     Council,     34, 
35,   429 

inception   of,   34-37 
Laboratories,  430 
personnel,  431 
Respiratory  diseases,  302 
Root,  E.,  on  organization  of  sci- 
ence,   394 
Russell,  F.  R,  277  ff. 

Sanitary  engineering,  281 

School     for    military  psychology, 
356 

Scientific  attache,  office  of,  35,  36 

Selective  service,   284 

Serum,  anti-gas  gangrene,  301 

Shells,  cast-iron,  259 

Shell-shock,    (war  neuroses),  291 

Shock,  investigation  of,  27 
surgical,  treatment  of,  317 

Signal    Corps,    Division    of    Sci- 
ence and  Research  of,  22 


INDEX 


443 


Signaling,  and  vacuum  tubes,  231 

b:    radio,  230 

b?  light  and  sound  waves,  47 

hstory  of,  221 

ii  the  war,  221  ff. 
Smoke,  production  and  use  of,  169 
Sneezing   gas,    153 
Soda  lime,  in  gas  warfare,  158 
Sound-ranging,  41-44 

accuracy    of,   84 

development  of,  63  ff. 

history  of,  66 

principles  of,  70 

results   of,  87 

Specialization,  in  research,  405  ff. 
Squier,  Gen.  G.  O.,  relation  to  In- 
formation Service,  35 
Ststes  Relations,  Division  of,  Na- 
tional     Research      Council, 
423 

Steel,   stainless,   for  airplane  en- 
gines, 260 

Submarine  detection,  devices  for, 
21  ff.,  40-44 

problem,  38 
Surgery,  advances  in,  311  ff. 

of  chest,  321 


Tank,    leak-proof,    for    airplanes, 

47      ' 
Telegraph  lines  abroad,  225 

ground,  243 

Telephone  lines  abroad,  225 
Topography,  and  strategy  in  the 

war,    190 
Trade  tests,  cost  of,  382 

in  army,  381 

types  of,  383 
Trench   foot,  295 
Trowbridge,  A.,  63  ff. 


/ 

ignalling.  231 


Vacuum  tubes,  and  signall 
Vaughan,  V.   C,  328  ff. 

War  neuroses,  291 
Water,  purification   of,  281 

supply,  and  geology,   198  ff. 
Weather,  relations  to  war,  49  ff. 
Welch,  W.  H.,  15 
West,  C.  J.,  148  ff. 
Wilson,   Woodrow,  letter,    15 
Wounds,  splinting  of,  318 

surgical  treatment  of,  312  ff. 

Yerkes,   R.   M.,  351    ff. 


RETURN  TO  the  circulation  desk  of  any 
University  of  California  Library 

or  to  the 

NORTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 
Bldg.  400,  Richmond  Field  Station 
University  of  California 
Richmond,  CA  94804-4698 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

•  2-month  loans  may  be  renewed  by  calling 
(510)642-6753 

•  1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing 
books  to  NRLF 

•  Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4 
days  prior  to  due  date. 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 

FEB  o  2  *»*"** 


NOV  0  9  2005 


12,000(11/95) 


GENERAL  LIBRARY -U.C.  BERKELEY 


